


Your Royal Highness

by kipnotize



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, PRINCE!LEVI, Smut, Yaoi, ereri, maid!Eren, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-11 01:41:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 68,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2048466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipnotize/pseuds/kipnotize
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Levi Ackerman has never liked the 'royal treatment'. In fact, he'd much rather live a normal life as a normal person. So when he stumbles upon a brat who desperately needs a job and doesn't recognize Levi as part of the royal family, he decides it's time to give living normally a shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

Eren's POV

"And same to you, asshole!" God I hated this job. My boss- former boss now- was such a fucking perv, and it wasn't like I was getting paid the most. What I really wanted was to go back to the Americas, but oh no I had to be dragged to Germany by my father.

First of all, I didn't see why I had to follow him here. It's not like he's been the most caring father, but after my mom was murdered I had to have some legal parent or guardian. But even if I had to live with my father, I just wished we could be back in the US. It was true that I had been born here in Germany, and I had lived here the first five years of my life so it wasn't like I felt like it was foreign or couldn't speak the language. But my home was back across the sea, not here with neglecting fathers and pervy bosses. Technically I could move back to America now, these few years later, but I didn't have the money to travel across the sea and pay for a place to stay. The whole situation made me irritable and weary, and my temper was even harder to control than it had been just months ago.

So I wasn't all that surprised when my temper flew up today, losing me my job and source of income. Unfortunately for me, because my father was so loving and thoughtful, that meant no food until I found a new job. I kicked at a pebble that crossed my path, following it with my eyes until it bounced into someone. I looked up from the ground, arms crossed and not in a good mood.

"I'm sorry, maybe you weren't aware that I was kicking a rock where you decided to stand. Care to move?" The person I was snapping at, a short blond that honestly looked more like a girl than the boy he was, blinked before bursting into laughter.

"What the fuck did he say?" I peered past the blond's shoulder at the short man who stood there, surprised that he actually looked more irritated than I felt. The blond turned, still laughing, and translated what I had said for him. I could tell he was trying incredibly hard to be respectful while still in a fit of laughter, and I gave the man who was now rolling his eyes another look.

He certainly was dressed nicely, though instead of a tie he wore a weird handkerchief thing around his neck. It made him look incredibly fancy, and I wondered where he came from. His hair was short and black and sleek in an undercut with bangs that hung just slightly into his eyes. Holy shit, his eyes. They looked like steely thunderstorms that were just waiting for someone to come along to strike at, and I frowned as the eyes narrowed themselves when I was caught staring.

"Tell him that we were in fact standing here before he decided to kick the rock, and ask him if he cares to apologize. And tell him that it's rude to stare." I looked back at the blond, deciding to pretend I only knew German for the time being as it was entertaining watching him scramble to translate what was said.

"And it's rude to point out others' faults. Maybe I have some disorder in which I stare off into space and you just happened to be standing in 'space'. You never know." There were more giggles from the blond, who I was honestly becoming quite fond of, and another eye roll from the short man after it was translated.

"Whatever. Call him a shitty brat, and ask him if he wants a job." I felt my eyes widen, and I turned my attention fully to the man who had just spoken.

"I'm not a brat! But... What kind of job? Where? Why?" Both the blond and the raven looked shocked that I could speak English, though for the fancier dressed guy 'shocked' was more like 'eyes widened the teensiest of bits as the rest of his face remained ticked off'.

"You know English? What the fuck, brat?" I shrugged, winking at the blond who was trying to hold back more laughter. "I can not even believe- why the fuck- whatever. You don't need a job anyway." 

"No! I mean, uh, can I please have the job? Sir?" The man crossed his arms, smirking, and I scowled at him.

"Would you look at that! The little shit does have manners!" I glared at him, but remained silent so that I could hear about the job. "Now, I noticed that you seem to have... Lost your current form of employment."

"Like it was real employment to begin with." The man raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. "Sorry, sorry, now what's the job?"

"My previous maid met... An unfortunate end. You'll be paid well, and you'd live in the house and get three meals a day." I felt my eyes widen, trying to process the amazing opportunity that had been given to me. Cleaning was something I could do, and for food and room and pay? It was too good to be true.

"Yes! But... Wait. Why the hell am I being offered this job? Not that I'm not grateful, I'd very much prefer to eat and not be broke." The man shifted his weight, averting his gaze to the ground before answering. The blond seemed to be watching his reaction with interest, and I looked between them questioningly.

"I needed a maid, I found a jobless brat wandering the streets. He kicked a pebble at my translator, blamed it on him, then proceeded to argue with me. Seemed like you might bring a bit of... Interesting developments into my life if you came back with me. Spur of the moment decision. Or you can pretend that it was destiny or some shit. I don't care." I grinned down at the man, deciding that he was by far the best boss I'd had yet.

"Then I think I'll go with destiny. The great spirit of jobless fools decided to grant me some slack after all the hardships I had to endure, placing my salvation in front of my pebble. How's that?" The blond didn't even try to hold back his laughter this time, and to my surprise- and apparently the blond's- the raven haired guy before me chuckled softly. 

"So you'll take it? The job, I mean." I nodded, grinning, but then my grin disappeared as something occurred to me.

"Wait... I won't have to wear some stupid maid dress with frills and shiz, right? Like, they have a male adaptation for that?" I frowned at the shorter man, surprised to see a smirk playing with his lips.

"Depends. Would you wear a stupid maid dress with frills and shiz?" I looked at him incredulously, shaking my head. "Shame. That'd be quite the sight. I'd probably pay extra, too." I felt my face go red, but crossed my arms and turned my head away.

"I already said no. I will never wear one of those things willingly, so you're out of luck." The man sighed, clearly disappointed, then looked back up at me when something occurred to him.

"Oh. Almost forgot. As you probably noticed, I can't speak German. I sound like shit when I try. So, my house isn't here. I live back in the U.S., so you'd have to leave here..." He trailed off, suddenly looking less sure of himself.

"Deal. I hate this place anyway. And living back in America will be amazing. Oh, and I do get days off, right?" The man nodded, and I pumped a fist into the air with a whoop. "Yes!" The blond smiled at my enthusiasm, and Mr. Lets-Hand-Out-Awesome-Jobs gave a little half smile and shook his head.

"Yeah, you can do whatever on Saturdays." I grinned, already seeing my amazing new life within reach. "Do you need time to pack? We were on our way to head home when you started kicking rocks at us."

"Eh, maybe half an hour. I have like, zero possessions. Where can I meet you when I'm done?" The blond opened his mouth to answer, but the raven haired man waved away his response with a hand.

"Could I just come with you? I'm fucking tired of getting lost in this goddamned city, so I'd rather stick with a native, even if he is a brat." I scowled at him, but nodded.

"Ya, ya, whatever. But I want to know your names first." I stuck my hand out to the blond first, grinning at his surprised expression. "I'm Eren. Yeager. Hope you don't hate me for kicking a pebble your way."

"No, no, of course not! Name's Armin Arlert, I'm one of the other maids who just happened to know German." I raised an eyebrow, and Armin shrugged as he let go of my hand. "I like learning languages. Keeps me busy. "

"You should be cleaning extra or something." I turned, grinning again, and stuck my hand out to my new employer. Armin was clearly shocked when he hesitantly took my hand and shook it, but he didn't say anything. 

"Eren Yeager, at your service apparently." 

"Levi." I raised an eyebrow, putting my hands on my hips. "You don't need my last name. Just call me Levi." Armin opened his mouth to say something, giving Levi a look of genuine shock and confusion, but Levi shook his head and gave him a look that clearly said, 'shut the fuck up'. I sighed, accepting that I wouldn't get to hear what Armin wanted to say but quickly brightening up again when I remembered I got to leave the wretched place I shared with my father.

"Well, pleasure to meet you, Levi. And thanks for the job. Off to my place, I suppose!" And so I turned and skipped off in the direction of our apartment complex, grinning when I heard Levi give another low chuckle. I tried to ignore thoughts of how to tell my father I was leaving, but even when I couldn't escape their suffocating sense of 'Ohfuckohfuckohfuck', it was a fairly pleasant walk in which I got to know a bit more about Armin. Levi seemed unwilling to participate in conversation except to throw insults, but oh well. An antisocial boss is better than a pervy one.


	2. A Plane Ride

Levi's POV 

 

I followed the brat to his apartment mostly in silence, watching him bounce around and practically burst into bubbles with excitement. I really didn't know why I hired him, but I think it was because he looked a bit sad... Not that he acted it, of course. My first impression of him was a loud brat with anger issues, and that could still very well be the case, but when he first looked past Arlert at me I quickly gained another impression of him.

His eyes were fucking gorgeous, I'll admit that now. But beneath all the curiosity and remaining anger he looked really sad, as if he was simply sitting around waiting for his life to get better. And hearing the translations of what he said was possibly the first time I had been intrigued in someone by the way they spoke, but I think it was more of the way he spoke to me than just the way he spoke in general.

It was stupid being a prince, and even though I had long ago accepted the fact that I wouldn't be able to take over the throne someday I was still treated as if I was something fragile. I was treated with so much respect I could never walk into a room without the people in it going stiff and bowing, and it wasn't like I asked for them to do that. When the shitty brat had talked back to me, my first reaction was surprise. That was the first time anyone had argued with me in, well, ever, and then when he went on to mess with me by pretending to only speak German I was actually more amused than annoyed.

Part of me knew that the second he knew I was royalty he would back off and become submissive and polite just like everyone else, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy it while it lasted. With my excitement at having a glimpse of how other people lived coupled with the almost dead look in the back of his eyes, he ended up with a job. Thinking through it now I knew that I had come close to losing the ability to interact with Yeager as equal human beings when he had asked for my name, since even if he didn't know my face he was bound to know the last name Ackerman. I almost panicked when Arlert came close to giving me away as well, and now that I had started this deception I couldn't stop. While I waited outside with the blond boy for Yeager to come back with his 'zero belongings', I leaned against a wall and stared off into space before focusing on Arlert.

"Oi, Arlert. From now on, when Yeager's in the room, you call me 'sir'. When we get back, tell everyone else, too. And don't let anyone give him my last name or the names of my sister or parents or anything. Not even where I'm from." Arlert looked surprised, but didn't argue.

"Yes, Your Highness. Any particular reason why you are trying to hide your heritage from him? If you don't mind my asking..." I shook my head, looking down.

"Why not? I'm bored, I'm a prince, I think I can entertain myself as I see fit." I ignored the skeptical look on the other's face; I'd rather keep the real reason to myself. 

"Of course, Your Highness." I scowled, more annoyed with the blond than I would've been if he had argued with my excuse.

Even if I'd rather not share the real reason, part of me was ticked off that I wasn't called on my obvious bluff. I may have been bored, yes, but I never used my heritage as an excuse and anyone who worked for me knew that. I earned my own money, fame, accomplishments, and I never looked at help offered from my parents with anything short of disgust, so I'd rather pretend not to be royal anyway. I examined the ground, wondering if that was the real reason I had decided to try and take the brat home with me, not any of the 'pitying the sad jobless brat' shit.

"You okay? You look like one of those Greek statues that looks off into space and is supposedly wise and stuff." I looked up at the voice, blinking with surprise at first and then satisfactory when there was no bow accompanied with the words.

"What, I can't be wise?" Yeager pretended to think about it for a moment, pulling the most serious face he could.

"Ehhhh... Nahh, you decided to hire a 'shitty brat' off the streets, so I'm pretty sure wisdom isn't your forte." I chuckled, already having trouble not expressing joy just from being insulted. It was exhilarating, as if I was breaking some law by pretending to be normal.

"Oh yeah, do I need to speak with a parent or something? Kinda forgot I'm taking you across the ocean..." It doesn't even seem real that I could do that, that I could find a brat with pretty eyes and a goofy grin and and take him away to another country to pretend to live normally for once.

"Oh, no, you don't have to worry about that. Mom's dead, and my father hates me as much as I hate him, so he gave me up willingly." I raised an eyebrow, pretending I couldn't see Arlert watching my exchanges with Yeager with particular interest.

"Something I should be worried about?" Yeager scrunched up his nose, and I felt a smile tug my lips upward at the sight.

"Not unless you're a homophobe. With your comment about the dress earlier, I doubt it." I smirked at the memory of that conversation, slightly wistful for the sight of Yeager in a maid dress.

"Then lets get going. I'd rather return home as soon as possible." I turned to Arlert, sighing inwardly as he straightened under my gaze and lowered his head so that his line of sight didn't meet mine. "Where the fuck were we headed?"

"The private airport near the downtown area, Yo-" I cut him off with a glare, and he hesitated before correcting himself. "Sir."

"Yeager, you know where that is? Arlert is possibly the worst guide because he's too scared to ask around for help." Yeager watched the blond's guilty reaction with a grin, nodding.

"Sure. Everyone knows where the rich people stuff is, even if we ourselves are dirt-poor." I raised an eyebrow when he continued to stand around, rolling my eyes when he realized what I was waiting for and face palmed before turning and heading back the way we came. "Follow me!"

Every time Yeager insulted me, or gave me a command, or did anything that wasn't up to Arlert's 'princely' standards, I was torn on whether to look at his shocked and horrified face or ignore it. Remembering the times Yeager had seen Arlert's look and had sent a questioning one to me, I decided that it was probably safer to pretend I didn't notice, but couldn't help but sneak a glance once in awhile. 

"So, what about you?" I looked beside me, startled to see that Yeager had hung back a bit so that he wasn't directly leading and was walking beside me.

"What about me?" I looked at him blankly, unsure of what he wanted.

"Yeah! I got to know all kinds of things about Armin on the way to my father's place, so what about you? Any deepest darkest secrets I should know?" I rolled my eyes, though inwardly I was thrilled that someone had actually asked about my private life. It made me wonder if he would be this talkative after he started working for me, because if he was I knew I'd probably end up making stupid excuses to be in the same room as him.

"Brat, the point of having secrets is to not tell them to others." Yeager seemed to pout for a moment, but then he looked up again, grinning wide.

"So you admit that you do have deep dark secrets?" I chuckled softly, and somewhere in the back of my mind I felt a twinge of pride that seemed to be saying, 'look at me, I found something amusing! And he's mine!' 

"Tch. Everyone has at least one of those. Admitting to it means nothing." Yeager sighed, seemingly giving up.

"You're hopeless. Well, can I at least know what this is?" He reached out, running his fingers over my cravat, and I felt myself freeze. Behind me, I knew, Arlert had frozen as well, though he was probably more focused on my reaction.

"It's called a cravat." I winced as I spoke, knowing my voice sounded strained, and tried to shrink back when Yeager frowned at me and returned his hand to his side.

"Fine, fine. Boss doesn't like touching, at least I learned something." I winced again as he sighed, watching him speed up slightly so that he led again and wasn't walking directly beside me. I almost spoke out, apologized and asked him to come back, but what the hell would I say? Oh, sorry, just not used to people treating me like an actual human being.

So the rest of the walk was made in silence, though it turned out to not be all that far away anyway. From there I took the lead, finding the private jet I had taken here and motioning the male who stood outside waiting for us to open the door so that Arlert led Yeager on board as I walked over to the pilot, another one of my employees who also had jobs around my house.

"Oi, listen up. That brat I have with me with the brown hair, don't treat me like I'm a prince around him, okay? Just call me 'sir' and don't answer questions about my last name or family." He looked slightly confused, but eventually just bowed his head slightly in recognition.

I nodded, leaving him to get on the jet to find that Yeager was still in the doorway, looking wide-eyed around the cabin. I poked the back of his head, smirking when he yelped and jumped in surprise, efficiently dragged from his hypnotized stare. He turned to me, about to say something, but then something across the cabin caught his eye and he rushed over, words forgotten in favor of new ones.

"You have a tv in here?" I went over to the couch he stood in front of and sat down, crossing my legs as I watched Yeager with amusement. "Does it get anything good, or is it just for movies and boring yourself with crappy shows? Oh! Here's the remote!"

He wasted no time in flipping the television on and going through the channels, sometimes hovering on one to see what was playing. I caught a glimpse of Arlert, apparently unable to watch Yeager disrespect my title any longer, make his way to the separate, smaller cabin he had stayed in on the way over here. I made no move to take the remote from Yeager, though I felt myself stiffen when he fell back on the couch to watch whatever he had found. He wasn't anywhere near me on the couch, yet still just the thought of someone sitting beside me so easily made me unsure whether to feel happy or annoyed.

So I just sat and watched him uneasily until Arlert came back in the large cabin with my tea, handing it to me after eyeing the brat who sat on the couch with me. They had been getting along well when they had been talking together, but it was obvious that the blond still didn't like that I was hiding the fact that I was a prince, and he definitely didn't like that Yeager treated me with such little respect. Well, he was entitled to his own opinion.

"Well, I can pretend to be first class right now, but I have a feeling I should be learning what I have to do. Clean, right?" I took another sip of my tea before answering, slightly disappointed that he had resigned to being a good employee so quickly.

"Mostly. The other staff can teach you how I like stuff to be done, and you'd better do it right. I will make you redo everything if I don't like how you did it the first time, so keep that in mind." I took another sip of my tea, amused at the expression on the boy's face. "You won't have to ever cook, or learn extra skills. But on occasion I may send you on some extra errand. No complaining, or your ass is going to be kicked out." 

"Ugghhhhh... Whatever. What's life like at your place? You probably have some crazy big mansion, and, like, fifty staff members." He squinted at me, then continued. "No pets. You look too... Clean for them. And I bet you have three huge dining rooms with giant tables that fit a hundred people but you never eat in any of them. You probably get room service or something. You probably only eat things that rhyme with 'cravat', and you never sleep. Or, maybe you only sleep during the day, and that's why you look so tired right now. I'm not going to have to become nocturnal, am I? I'd almost rather wear the maid dress." 

I looked at him a moment, incredulous that he was being serious, then started laughing. It felt weird not just giving some short chuckle or half smile, and I had to put my cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch so that I didn't spill it. I covered my mouth with one hand, trying to muffle the laughter and hide my smile, but it was no use. Arlert burst into the room, Bodt right behind him, both of them looking shocked and almost nervous. 

"Your-" 

"Sir! Are you alright?" I was glad that The freckled boy cut Arlert off in time, but I was still having trouble quieting myself. 

"Wow. That certainly tells you something about how you live- you start laughing and people come in to make sure you're okay. Well, I'm going to have to change that!" I had finally managed to shut myself up, and I watched in amusement as Bodt and Arlert exchanged a look before looking at Yeager, who had just declared that he had made it his mission to make my laughter a normal sound. 

"Um, Eren, it may not be your place to-" 

"Shut up, Arlert. Yeager just... Caught me by surprise. He'll have a hard enough time fulfilling his goal without you giving him a hard time." Bodt and Arlert exchanged another look, and I did my best to pretend that defending my employees was a regular occurrence.

"Aww, Levi, don't be mean. I can handle a challenge!" Bodt's expression seemed to go blank as he decided how to react to the brat using my first name, but I was glad to see that he managed to keep it blank even after he had reacted. Honestly, if this keeps up with all my employees, Yeager would find out about my heritage in two days flat.

"Uh- okay... Uh... Sir, I'm going to start the jet... Armin's going to be back with me if you need anything..." They both attempted to bow to me without it looking formal, failing miserably, but Yeager wasn't paying them any attention in favor of looking at me with a very determined expression. I waved them off, turning to the brat beside me as they left to see what he wanted.

"So how much of that did I have right?" I shook my head slightly, still amused with his guessing, and picked my tea up again.

"I live in a mansion." Yeager looked disappointed, snapping his finger in the universal sign for 'drat'. 

"Well, can you give me the correct answers at least?" I sipped at my tea, weighing the costs and benefits of indulging him, then shrugged.

"Counting you, I have about ten staff members. I actually enjoy horseback riding, so I have a few horses. Only one ridiculously large dining room, and where I eat depends on the occasion. If I have guests, I'll usually put up with the dining room, but usually I eat in the greenhouse. I'll eat anything so long as it doesn't taste like shit. What am I missing?" Yeager looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to remember.

"Um... Oh! Whether I have to be nocturnal. Again, would almost rather the dress." I smirked, leaning back on the armrest. At this point we had both turned so that we were facing each other instead of sitting normally on the couch, and the shitty little brat had somehow ended up just a foot and a half away instead of sitting on the other end of the couch.

"If I tell you that you'll have to be nocturnal, will you wear the dress?" I sighed, disappointed once more as Yeager shook his head.

"I'll be an owl, don't worry." I rolled my eyes, taking another sip of tea before responding.

"No need to do that. I sleep at night, or at least try. Insomnia." Yeager grimaced, and I watched him as his expression turned thoughtful.

"Hm. Have you tried drinking warm milk and honey?" I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Yes. You think I want to spend night after night tossing around in bed?" Yeager flinched, looking guilty, and I sighed again. "Sorry. It's a bit of a sore subject."

"Ah, no, it's my bad. I'm still technically the help, I'm not really in a place to be prying in the first place. Sorry." He ducked his head, and I found myself reaching over to nudge his head back up.

"Don't do that. I don't want to hear shit about you not being worthy to ask me questions. I did just scoop you off the streets of your country, stick you on a plane, and tell you that you'd be living with me. You have a right to at least try to become less of a stranger before then." I leaned back again, trying to ignore the slight pink in Yeager's cheeks.

"Um... Right..." We both looked down at our laps for a moment, unsure of what to say next. "So. Do you travel around a lot?"

"Only for business. This past week I've been trying to shake some assholes off a deal they first refused a month ago and just now decided they wanted." The brat in front of me grimaced, and my own expression grew discontent at the memory of the past week.

"You make it sound like most of your business isn't in America." I thought a moment, then nodded.

"I'm only in America because my parents had some land they didn't want anyway." The look in Yeager's eyes grew curious once again, and I suddenly wondered of mentioning my parents was too risky.

"Why'd you move away from your parents?" I sighed, relieved that that was what he was asking. That I could answer.

"I didn't like how they treated me. I'd rather just not associate myself with them." I looked away as the burnet frowned at me, clearly not happy with my answer.

"That's stupid. You have two perfectly good, loving parents, and you ran away from them? Why? How could you feel good about what you were doing?" Oh, shit. I forgot that he had said his own mother was dead, and that his father hated him... 

"That's not..." I trailed off, not able to come up with a good excuse without just telling him that I was a prince and my parents were the rulers of a fairly rich and powerful land. "They- my parents- they always had their attention focused on business partners and such. They rarely spent time with my sister and I, and the only reason they even remembered our birthdays was to throw parties and invite their business partners to them. That and to get drunk. They weren't exactly the most affectionate..."

"You still shouldn't take them for granted! One of these days, you're going to wake up and they'll be dead, and it'll be too late for you to ever make up with them. You should go see then and apologize! Obviously not move back in now, but just stopping by would be nice... And what about that sister? Did you run away from her, too?" I looked down at my lap, rubbing a thumb on the rim of my cup and wondering why, after all these years, I hadn't ever felt guilt until this brat came along.

"I still see her sometimes... But even between us it wasn't like things were perfect. I lived in a very... Strained household. We all pretty much did our best to avoid the others." I tried to shrink back into the corner of the couch as Yeager shook his head slightly, disappointment clear in his eyes.

"That's stupid," he repeated, and somehow this time his words seemed to be heavier.

I barely knew the brat, yet within the span of five minutes he could make me go from laughing to feeling guilty about things that weren't even his business. Was this how everyone felt when they talked to others? Dozens of emotions and confusion in what to say? Part of me considered telling him right then and there who I was so that he couldn't speak to me like that anymore, so that I could go back to being emotionless, but I quickly disregarded that part of me. I sighed, looking between the brat in question and my tea.

"So... How'd you get fired at your other job?" It was a lame subject change, but it worked, and some of the seriousness fled from Yeager's eyes.

"My boss was a perv, and he kept 'accidentally' dropping things for me to pick up, so today I taped a sign to my ass that told him to go fuck himself." I chuckled, glad that the conversation had turned light hearted again, though somewhere in the back of my mind I agreed with his former boss. "He got mad, I got mad, he slapped me, I threw some stuff, he fired me. Ah, the good ol' days... Now I give lectures to my boss about the importance of family and have to actually work to make him laugh." 

"Oh, you poor soul. I feel such pity for your little brat self." I set the now empty cup into the coffee table as Yeager laughed, then leaned forward to flick his nose. "So long as I'm not being told to fuck myself, you should be fine." Yeager laughed a bit harder, clutching at his side.

"So long as you're not as much as an ass as you appear to be, we should both be fine."


	3. I Ship It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For your reference:  
> Marco Botd-housekeeper/pilot  
> Armin Arlert-housekeeper/translator   
> Jean Kirschtein-stable boy (cuz there's no other job for Horse-face)  
> Historia Reiss-gardener  
> Ymir-gardener  
> Connie Springer-cook  
> Sasha Braus-cook  
> Eren Yeager-housekeeper/errand boy

Armin's POV

 

"So who's the newbie? I assume that that's what this is about." I nodded at Jean, who leaned against one wall of the room I had gathered all the staff in.

"His name is Eren Yeager, and His Highness gave me instructions to relay on to everyone else. Marco already got them, and he'll agree that they're a bit..." I trailed off, looking to the freckled boy for help.

"They're a bit different." I nodded, taking in the confusion on everyone's faces. "His Highness seems to have taken a particular... Liking to Eren."

"Wait, like or like-like?" I shrugged, turning to look at Ymir. She had her arms draped over Historia with her head resting on one of her shoulders, and Historia herself seemed to be switching her focus to Ymir to me back to Ymir again every few seconds.

"Well, there was a certain amount of teasing to try and get the newbie in a maid dress." Sasha giggled, pausing from the bread she had been eating to speak around it.

"I ship it!" Now both Sasha and Connie next to her were laughing hysterically, and the giggles were spreading through the group. 

"I can't believe it! So how'd be get the job?" I grinned for a moment, remembering the incident. I liked Eren, and honestly I'd probably agree with Sasha that he'd be a good match for His Highness if he wasn't so stubborn about telling Eren about his heritage.

"He kicked a pebble and it hit me, then he proceeded to argue with His Highness and pretend that he didn't know English." The giggling faded, leaving expectant looks on everyone's faces. "That's it."

"That's it? How is that it? How the hell did he land a job by arguing with a prince? I had to pass, like, eighty tests before he let me have the job!" I frowned, agreeing with Jean but not saying anything.

"That's what I thought, but here's the real shocker: our instructions." I glanced back at Marco, who looked just as uncomfortable about the orders as I was, before continuing. "Eren's not to know that His Highness is a prince. We have to call him 'Sir' in Eren's presence, and we can't tell Eren anything regarding His Highness's heritage or family." 

"BS." Every head turned to look at Ymir, who was echoing the thought of everyone in the room. "And what about his last name? It's not like everyone has the last name 'Ackerman'."

"Eren's calling His Highness by his first name." There was a silence after Marco spoke in which looks of disbelief were exchanged, and I stood awkwardly trying to find a way to fill the silence. I failed, but luckily Marco didn't. "It's true. I was a bit shocked when I first heard it, but His Highness is even going so far as to allow Eren to show him disrespect that any of us would normally be fired for."

"...like...?" I flicked my gaze to Connie before looking down at my shoes.

"Well, I may or may not have heard a bit of their conversation on the jet..." Marco shot me an accusing look before I continued, and I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry! I was curious! Anyway, their conversation was almost completely Eren asking His Highness about his life, though it wasn't even close to a one-sided conversation."

"...So, this Eren guy got a job by disrespecting a prince, then proceeded to pry about his life?" I nodded, and Marco stepped forward to take over for me.

"He defended Eren, too. But... I think what shocked me the most was that Eren made His Highness laugh." More silence and disbelieving looks.

"You mean, chuckle demeaningly? Or perhaps just smirk?" I shook my head, and Marco continued.

"No, I mean laugh. I didn't even think it was possible, but Eren had His Highness actually laughing. And hard, too." Marco shifted his weight, looking at the ground. "I think it's kinda nice, actually. That His Highness is trying to make friends with someone as if he was a person of equal status. Don't you think it'd be hard to live above everybody all the time?"

"Well, sure, but as far as I'm aware His Highness has no problem looking down on us." I nodded along with several others at Ymir's words, but Marco shook his head.

"I still think its nice. And Eren's nice, too. Anyone who can make His Highness laugh with apparently little effort will always be on my good side." More looks were exchanged throughout the room, and I took a breath before taking charge again.

"Alright, we can chat about this later! Sasha, Connie, dinner's in an hour and a half, so make sure you guys don't let this distract you. Marco and I will teach Eren what to do, but we'll start tomorrow. In the mean while, after His Highness finishes working out the details of the job with Eren we'll get him settled and show him around. He is a good guy, so make sure to be welcoming even if you're curious about His Highness's interest in him. Make sure to remember that in Eren's presence His Highness is just a regular person with a lot of money; don't give anything away." There were nods from everyone, and as we started to disperse Sasha once again lowered the bread from her mouth.

"I so ship it." We all grinned or laughed, and there were several agreeing sounds mumbled out, but that was it. I did agree with Marco that it was nice His Highness was making an effort to make friends with someone, I just wish he wasn't keeping his entire identity a secret in the process...


	4. One Rainy Day

Eren's POV

 

Throughout the next few days, all of the staff did their best to help me fit in, and I got to know all of them better than I would've imagined I could've from just my first week. I shared a room with Armin, but the room was spacious and neither of us were cramped. The blond boy had seemed hesitant around me at first, but as I got to know everyone else he started to come out of his shell and we quickly became close friends.

It was him who had first taught me how Levi liked stuff to be done, with some help from Marco, so usually we would do our chores together every morning before we had to go our separate ways in the ridiculously large house to continue our work after lunch. So long as I didn't drag my feet I could be done before dinner, which was eaten in the kitchen and was always far better than anything I had eaten since my mother had died. That's where I was now, chatting and laughing with the other employees as we ate.

"Man, you guys always blow me away with your food! It's always so good!" Sasha nodded in acceptance of the compliment over her plate, not wanting to pause from her meal, but Connie sat a little straighter and looked quite smug.

"Food fit for a prince!" I laughed as Sasha swatted him over his head, and a few others grinned. "Sorry! Sorry! Food fit for a really, really, really rich guy. Better?" Sasha glared at Connie, and I laughed again before turning my attention back to the food.

Levi really did eat all his meals in the greenhouse, which confused me at first but was something I got used to quickly. While Sasha and Connie were dishing out portions for the staff, they would send someone to the greenhouse to give Levi his portion. Sasha usually asked me to do it, but today I had been putting away the last of my supplies during the beginning of dinner so she had gotten Jean to do it. He came back as I was returning my attention to my food, looking annoyed. He went over to Sasha and bent over to whisper something into her ear, then in Connie's. They both looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Oh my god! I can't-ha-I can't believe that he said-aha-that!" We all looked at the two of then questioningly, then at Jean, who was in the process of getting his plate and sitting down next to Marco.

"What?" It was Ymir who finally asked the question, but all of us were thinking it.

"Nothing! Nope! Nothing at all!" None of us believed Connie, but when Sasha returned to her food and him to his no one pressed them for details. I shrugged and took another bite of my dinner before turning to Armin, who was sitting on my right and still looking between the two chefs questioningly.

"Hey, Armin, why does Levi take his meals in the greenhouse?" Armin turned his attention to me and opened his mouth to answer, but Jean beat him to it.

"Probably because he thinks it's the only place he's safe from noise and messes. Ironic, though, since it's the only place here you'll find dirt." Historia and Ymir rolled their eyes, but everyone else laughed.

"Oh, come on! Give us a break! And it's not like we're allowed to get anything nature anywhere but the designated 'dirty areas'. I remember one time we were called in there during lunch because the master found an ant that was crawling across the floor. Do you know how hard it is to keep up with that clean freak?" We all laughed, except for Historia, who was pouting next to Ymir.

That's what everyone called Levi- 'the master'. Not once had I ever heard anyone say his name, so after my first day here I had decided to do the same. Honestly, it was embarrassing the looks I got from the other staff when I said his name, so it only made sense to follow the lead. But the second Levi had heard me call him 'Sir', he had guessed that I had ceased calling him by his name altogether and he was way scarier than the embarrassment was when he told me to stop it. So, I'm the only person who calls him by his name. Honestly, it makes me feel oddly proud and content, but I try to ignore it and the looks I get from everyone else when I call him by his name.

"Well, maybe he likes the sunlight then. It is the only room where he can get so much natural light..." Jean shook his head at Marco's words, and a few others snorted.

"Oh yeah, the master really loves the Sun. He absolutely adores the way it heats everything up and causes burns, and he just can't get over his excitement that he can't look at it without hurting his eyes. What could anyone dislike about the Sun or the heat or intense light it brings?" This time everyone laughed, including Marco.

"Hm. Maybe he likes the birds we keep in there?" Ymir laughed at Historia's suggestion, wiping away a false tear.

"Sweetie, I don't think the master really enjoys pieces of nature that make messes, noise, and can fly out of reach without any effort." Historia looked down, frowning, and Ymir patted her shoulder. "Nice try, though."

"Maybe he secretly loves flowers and all things nature!" None of us were holding back laughter anymore, and I had to clutch at my side as I gasped for breath.

"Maybe he has his own reasons that he likes to keep to himself." The silence was deafening after the room had been full of laughter, none of us moving or turning to look at the man who had just spoken. 

I broke free from the paralyzation first, turning to look at Levi with a nervous grin plastered onto my face. He was leaning against the doorway, carrying a plate with half his dinner still on it, and his expression reminded me of a small boy I had once refused candy to. Instead of getting sad, he had glared at me and stomped on my foot before grabbing my hand with the intention of biting off my finger before I gave in and handed the lollipop over to him. It was hard to imagine that Levi would bite anyone, seeing as we all have a zillion germs crawling over our skin, but I'm sure he could do much, much worse.

"O-oh, hey, Levi!" He watched my stuttering attempt to make normal conversation without amusement, and I looked down before looking back up when I heard him move. He came closer and set his plate down on my left, sitting down next to me. Still no one moved, eyes now trained on the spot to my left, Armin leaning forward slightly to watch as Levi picked up his fork and began finishing his meal.

"Um, Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are you-"

"It started raining." Levi cut Armin off without looking up, and after a moment more I shrugged and went back to my meal. Everyone else exchanged looks before following my lead, a few people attempting to make small talk with the person next to them. I watched Levi from the corner of my eye for a while before finally just turning to look at him, quickly catching the attention of everyone else at the table.

"Levi, why do you always eat in the greenhouse? Does it have to do with the silence or weather since you came here when it started raining outside?" He glanced at me, then looked down and sighed before turning himself to look at me.

"Shitty brat. Did you not hear me say that I kept my reasons for eating there to myself?" I scowled, but my face quickly turned upward again as I grinned at Levi.

"You said maybe." Levi looked at me skeptically, and I shrugged, still grinning. "Hey, a guy can try!"

"And a brat can fail." My grin disappeared, and once more I felt a scowl take hold over my features.

"I'm not a brat!" Levi raised an eyebrow, and I crossed my arms, trying to fool both himself and me that I was confident.

"You're a brat to me." I tilted my head upwards so that I had to look down even further to meet Levi's eyes, and he scowled.

"And you're an old man to me." Levi's scowl deepened, and he turned back to his food. I shifted slightly to prod him with my elbow as I also turned back to my food, watching as Levi stiffened at first before he relaxed and I felt a sharp pain in my foot as he stepped on it in retaliation. I slid from my chair backwards onto the floor, curling up and moaning as I clutched my foot. "Levi!"

There was no response to my whine, but I swear I saw the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in a smile. Laughter brought me back to the reality that there were more people in the room, and I turned to scowl at Armin, who was turning in his chair to look at me as he tried to stifle his laughter. Others had hands over their mouths to keep their giggles to themselves as well, and I sent a glare to each of them as Armin bent towards me to extend a hand. I swatted at his hand, scrambling off the floor myself. Wincing when I placed weight on my left foot, I sent the back of Levi's head the most evil look I could muster as I took my place at the table again, arousing more laughter from the blond on my right.

"Asshole." Levi shrugged, not pausing in his meal.

"You deserved it." I let out an incredulous whine, demanding to know what the hell I had done, and this time I wasn't the only one who saw the Levi's lips curve upwards in a slight smile. "For calling me an old man."


	5. Bedtimes Aren't Just For Kids

Eren's POV

 

After the evening the rain had driven Levi into the kitchen to eat with us, Sasha and Connie had been dead set against anyone but me taking Levi's meal to him. I asked them why multiple times, but all I would get was a vague answer that always reminded me of something Dr. Seuss-y. Levi never complained if I was late because I had been finishing something up when I was supposed to he heading down to the kitchen to fetch his meal, only nodded and excepted the excuse with the same reply each time:

"So long as you come." Then he would begin eating, dismissing me from the room and leaving me to pick apart the possible meaning behind that one sentence.

Did he mean that it was better late than never? Or just that he was glad that I came at all? Maybe it was his doing I had to be the one to bring him his food, and he meant that it was fine because it was still me bringing the food and not a replacement. Usually such thoughts would leave me feeling confused, slightly red, and not thinking straight as I made my way back to the kitchen. But then of course the next time I would see Levi he would call me a brat, insult my obvious incompetence, an things would return back to normal between us immediately- that is, if things between us had been any different in the first place. Had they?

"Oi, brat." I was yanked from my thoughts when Levi appeared in the doorway to the room I had been cleaning, leaning against the frame of the door and crossing his arms. I realized that somewhere along my train of thought I had stopped moving, and I quickly continued the process of swiping at the dust on the bookshelves in Levi's personal study. "You almost done in here? I have work to do."

"Sorry! I'll just come back later, really, I won't forget, I promi-"

"Shut up, Yeager. It's fine- finish what you're doing here. Just don't make a huge racket." I looked down at my feet in shame that I hadn't finished earlier; usually I had his study done early so that it was cleaned and empty when he would without a doubt come to it to work that afternoon.

"Okay..." I watched as Levi approached me, then regarded me silently for a moment before gesturing to the shelf behind me. I jumped out of the way, cursing myself for being so stupid, and mumbled out apologies as I returned to the task before me.

Since Levi was in the room, I made sure to do everything extra well, but it didn't seem to matter. He ignored that I was in the room completely, only moving from his desk to find something off one of the bookshelves. I didn't mind doing the extra work though, it was always pleasant to be in Levi's study. The room always smelled of books, and even if I couldn't read most of them since they were printed in another language, the amount of books in the smaller room made it feel incredibly cozy. 

I was just turning to leave the room when I was startled by the sound of a book dropping. I whipped my head around, ready to fetch whatever book I may have accidentally knocked over, but to my surprise the book that had fallen was across the room, by Levi's desk. I blinked, coming closer to the desk, and was surprised to see that Levi had fallen asleep in his chair, the book having fallen from his fingers. I grinned at the sight of how peaceful he looked asleep, feeling relieved that he had managed to get some rest. He had been looking increasingly more tired the past few days, and while he had told me before he had insomnia I still worried that he was working himself too hard. I wasn't quite sure what it was he did, exactly, but he would often spend hours locked in his study and come out only to ask for some tea.

I put down the supplies I had been holding and went over to the desk, bending down to pick up the book before placing it on his desk and looking around the room. Unable to find what I was looking for, I left the room as quietly as I could and went to the linens closet down the hall and removed the fluffiest, most comfortable looking blanket and started back towards to Levi's study.

"Eren?" I turned to find Marco carrying a bucket full of soapy water and some rags. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Levi fell asleep back in his study. I figured he'd be more comfortable and possibly sleep longer if he was warm." Marco looked confused for a moment, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing! I just thought it was odd the master was... Not uptight? No that's not it... I just thought it was odd he fell asleep with someone else in the room, no matter how tired he was." I shrugged, wondering if Levi was quite as collected as the rest of the staff seemed to think. Nobody's perfect, even if they come close.

"I'm just glad he's getting some rest. Someone has to make sure he's not overworking himself, and it seems like no one else has taken that job up in the time you've been working here I think I'll do it." I paused a moment, thinking. "Yes, definitely. I'll have to talk to him about it when he wakes up..."

I began walking off again, the tail end of my words fading off as I spoke more to myself than to the freckled boy. I slipped back into the study, thankful that part of Armin's job was to make sure none of the doors squeaked, and tip-toed over to Levi. I smiled once more at his sleeping figure, shaking my head slightly, and draped the blanket over him. He stirred slightly, but did not wake up, and I released a breath I hadn't been aware of holding. I stepped back and ran my eyes over him to see if there might be anything else I could do, but upon finding nothing I turned back to collect my supplies and leave, closing the door slowly and quietly behind me.

 

~~~  
Levi's POV

 

When I woke up, I was most surprised that I was waking up. Waking up meant that I had fallen asleep, and the possibility of doing that was slim- especially when I wasn't huddled under the thick enclosing blankets I usually took such comfort in. I stretched, groaning as I shifted limbs that had fallen asleep, and the sudden movement of something falling to the floor caught my eye. I bent down, picked up the blanket, and looked at it in confusion for a moment. None of the staff would dare touch me, especially if I was asleep- they'd probably just back away slowly and pretend they hadn't ever even seen me when I was dead to the world. Well, most of the staff. As if summoned by the thought of his Caribbean eyes and contagious smile, the door opened to reveal the brat obviously trying to remain as quiet as possible. I rewrapped myself in the blanket as he closed the door slowly, watching him blankly. When he turned around and met my eyes, he yelped, almost dropping the tea he was holding in one hand.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you! I just knew you usually wanted tea when you wake up, so I figured I'd have some made since you'd probably be waking up soon..." I shook my head, then held out a hand to accept the tea. I had brought my legs up to my chest under the blanket, curling myself up to enjoy the momentary warmth and peacefulness.

"It's fine. I was awake before you entered." I looked around the room, skimming my eyes over the books until they landed on the one on my desk that I had been reading when I fell asleep. "...Did I fall asleep while you were in here?"

"Oh, yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that!" I blinked at him, unsure what he meant. "You work too much!" 

"What the actual fuck..." I was still in a content sleep-daze, so having work mentioned made me scrunch up my face in annoyance as I processed what the brat had just said. When it had finally made its way through my mind, my annoyance disappeared along with my unpleasant expression, replaced with amusement. "You're seriously telling me that I work too much?"

"Yes! Especially when you already know you'll have a hard time falling asleep, you shouldn't be up super late every night working!" I rolled my eyes, but I was still more amused than anything.

"Work has to be done. Sleep has never come easily, it can wait a little longer." Yeager shook his head, crossing his arms and watching defiantly as I sipped at my tea, still huddled up beneath the blankets. 

"Nope. Starting tonight, I'm giving you a bedtime." I chuckled, and the burnet glared at me with his most stubborn gaze. "You have to be in bed by 11:00, no exceptions."

"And you plan on forcing your boss to go to bed by...?" The younger man blinked, then frowned. 

"By not going to sleep until you have. You stay up late, I stay up late, then you have a sleepy employee who may mess up his chores." I rolled my eyes, smirking at the determination he displayed.

"Brat. That'd get you fired, not me in bed." The burnet didn't falter, didn't so much as blink. He just kept glaring at me, obviously waiting for me to promise to follow the rules he had set out for me.

"I'm not a brat. And I know you won't fire me." I raised an eyebrow, though I myself questioned whether I could actually fire the brat if it came to it.

"And why's that?" Yeager grinned, cocky and obviously proud of his answer.

"You'd have to get someone else to bring you your meals." I felt the corners of my mouth twitch upward, and I sighed as I gave in.

"Fair point." I finished the rest of my tea, placing the empty cup on my desk and getting up to place the blanket on the chair. I stretched one final time before picking up the book I had been reading and moving to leave the room, ruffling Yeager's hair on my way and smirking at his startled reaction. "Congratulations, brat. You have successfully given your employer a bedtime."


	6. Pleasurable Activities

Eren's POV

 

When I came to collect Levi's plate from lunch today, I hesitated before turning to leave the greenhouse. Levi, noticing my hesitation, raised an eyebrow, and I questioned myself about what had made me pause. I frowned, looking to where Levi sat, newly refilled teacup in hand and some official looking papers in the other. Nothing about the scene was out of place, but... I really didn't like that he couldn't even take a break from whatever it was he was doing to eat. I shifted my weight towards Levi and the small metal table he sat at, and the older man waited expectantly for me to reveal the reason I hadn't left yet.

"You shouldn't work so much." I thought I saw the faintest hint of a smile play with Levi's lips, but when I blinked it was gone so I dismissed it as my imagination.

"So you said just yesterday before you gave me a bedtime." I frowned again, moving closer to the table so that I wasn't talking to Levi from across the greenhouse.

"Well, I'm not satisfied yet. When was the last time you did something for pleasure and not for work?" Levi smirked, and somehow I wasn't surprised by his answer- though it still made my face go bright red.

"This morning, when I was in the shower. Do you want me to elaborate?" I averted my eyes, scowling, and tried to will away the burning in my cheeks and ears.

"No, thank you. But I'm serious here- I'm starting to worry for your health! Take a break for once, it's not going to kill you!" Levi set down his cup and the papers to cross his arms, looking at me skeptically. He made no move to dismiss me from the room, however, so I took that as a sign that I could continue. "Look, when you first brought me here, you mentioned that you had some horses because you liked to ride. Why don't you go do that? Right now, just leave those papers there- or burn then, that would work too- and go ride around your big ass yard."

"Burning papers holding my financial reports on them is an incredibly shitty idea." I sighed dramatically, making it clear that I thought he was missing the point, and for a moment a ghost of a smile made its way to Levi's lips once more. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because if I don't help you, I don't think anyone else will! And all work and no play will make you a very boring old man." Levi rolled his eyes, though I thought I saw a flicker of concern flash behind his eyes.

"Tch. Do you find me boring?" I shook my head, and the flicker behind his eyes vanished.

"But how I find you doesn't matter- what matters is that you work yourself way too hard, and while I'm relieved I managed to convince you to at least sleep a bit more you should have a bit of fun now and then! Or, here's a crazy idea, how about you don't spend every second of every day working and make time to relax every day!" Levi frowned at my denouncement of my opinion of him, but didn't say anything about it.

"Jesus Christ, who told you to play mom?" I scowled at him, and he raised his hands in defense. "Fine. I'll go riding after I'm finished looking over these papers. But you have to come with me."

"Why?" I didn't really have anything against it, but I was surprised that he wanted me to come. "I've never ridden anything but those animatronic things in the front of superstores before, so..."

"I'll teach you." I blinked, unsure of how to respond, and Levi picked up his tea again to take another sip. "I suppose I could survive teaching a brat how to ride a horse. I don't have anything special for you to wear though, and I doubt you'd fit in anything of mine."

"Shortie." Levi glared at me, and I grinned when he didn't protest the fact. "Nah, it's fine. I didn't even know there were special clothes, and you're already willing to teach me, so it's not like I was expecting anything."

"Mm. Alright. But if you fall off and crack your head open because you weren't wearing a helmet, you can't blame me." I snorted, and Levi rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, we both know that if I fall off a horse and crack my head open, I'm not only going to blame you but I'm never going to let you forget it. I promise not to sue, though." Levi looked at me with mild amusement before nodding, and I grinned. "I'll meet you back at the stables then. Don't take too long with your financial fire food."

 

~~~

 

To my surprise, there was not only a helmet for riding horses, but Levi had an entire outfit for the activity. And to my much greater surprise and slight embarrassment, he looked incredibly hot in it. I had been sitting on a wooden crate in one corner of the stables while I waited, watching and listening and (unfortunately) smelling as the horses stabled there went about their business. It surprised me that Levi had horses seeing as the stables revealed that keeping the creatures was an obviously messy ordeal, but I didn't mention it to him when he arrived. When he did, I looked him up and down twice, and probably would've done so a third time if he hadn't cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing. You should go riding more often." Levi smirked slightly as he rolled his eyes, and I grinned sheepishly. "So, which one of these things do you ride?"

"Any of them, though I suppose I like this one best." He went over to the largest horse stabled here, and I had to hold back giggles at how much taller the horse was than him. "You can take your pick as to which horse you want to ride."

I looked at the remaining three horses before choosing a gentle-looking bay, and Levi helped me get it all tacked up. There was actually a lot you had to do in preparation for riding, and I was warned by the shorter man that there was even more you had to do after. It was nice watching him interact with the horses, as he did so with a lot more care than one would suspect of him. He would often times rub his horse's neck or flank in between tasks, and I found myself trying to hide a grin when he announced that we were finally ready to start. 

"Alright, brat. Do you have any idea how to mount him?" I shook my head, but to my surprise there was no annoyance in Levi's eyes as he nodded and stepped closer to show me. "Place one foot here and put your hands like this- good. Now pull up with your hands at the same time as you push off with your foot and swing your other leg over."

With some help from Levi, I did as he said, clutching nervously onto the saddle when I was up there. He chuckled at my obviously concerned expression, and turned to mount his own horse. I watched in amazement as he did so with little effort, clucking his tongue and prodding at the horse's sides to guide it outside. I swallowed nervously before trying to do the same, and to my surprise it wasn't as hard as I had thought it to be. The swinging gait and jolting footsteps of the creature were foreign and uncomfortable, but steering was straightforward and it was obvious that Levi kept his horses well trained.

"Oi, what were you doing in there that took so long? Laps?" I turned to give a retort, but when I met Levi's eyes I fell silent and looked away when it was clear he was more amused than annoyed and knew exactly why I was going slower. "I promise you're not going to die. Now come on."

He prodded his horse on, glancing back at me to make sure I was following, then slowed to fall back beside me. He didn't say anything, and I didn't dare speak for fear of losing concentration and falling off to be trampled by the large beast I was riding, so we rode in silence as Levi led us to a small ring with hurdles made from wood and hay that I hadn't known existed. I glanced over at Levi to ask him what he expected me to do, and to my surprise, his entire face seemed to be lit up with excitement. I ginned at the rare sight, deciding to remain silent, and watched as he quickened his horse's pace and entered the ring.

He prodded his horse's sides with his feet in an effort to gain speed, and soon the easy walk he had adopted to remain by my side had morphed into a trot and then a gallop, racing in circles until Levi nudged the reigns to the side and set his horse into the path of a hurdle. I grinned as I watched him fly over the bars effortlessly, a similar expression fighting to take hold of his face. But after a few hurdles he slowed his horse back to a trot and then a walk once more, and he turned to call out to me where I had stopped my horse outside the ring.

"C'mon, brat!" I hesitated, unsure if it was possible for me to imitate the older man's jumps, but at his insistence I spurred my horse forward into the ring and let Levi guide us around and around, giving commands to fix my posture or speed every once and a while until he was satisfied. "Now pick up a bit more speed before jumping that."

It was the smallest hurdle in the ring he was pointing at, and I silently thanked Levi for that, but I still felt terror rising through me as I did as he had told me to. The landing was jarring, and I let out a yelp when the shock went through my body. Levi chuckled at my shock and residual fear, but had me continue around the ring to try it again. I did so, once more feeling the fear build as I neared the hurdle. Levi had me continue until I could make it over the hurdle without flinching, at which point he nodded and seemed to be quite pleased with himself. 

"Oi, Yeager. Finish that lap, then slow yourself down and make your way back over here." He made his way through the gate, and I hurried to follow his instructions and join him.

"You sure? You spent most of that time just dealing with me..." I looked down, feeling slightly guilty, but Levi nodded and hummed a content response that made me abandon any ideas of trying to convince him to spend more time doing what he wanted and not just putting up with me. We made our way back to the stables in silence, Levi showing me how to clean and brush out our horses once we reached it. By the time we were done, the clock read that it was nearing dinner time, and I could feel the beginnings of growls in my stomach demanding to be fed.

"Thanks, Levi," I said as we were returning to the main house, "both for the afternoon and for taking a break. Sorry it was spent teaching me skills you probably find elementary."

"Mm. Welcome." He shot me an odd glance out of the corner of his eyes before continuing, and I waited curiously for the rest of his response. "And don't apologize. I had a nice time."

I nodded, feeling a bit of heat rise to my cheeks but choosing to ignore it as we finished the walk and entered through the main hall. Levi waved away the chores I had missed while I was out riding with him, telling me to go shower before dinner and looking at his own hands and skin with disgust. I laughed and promised I would, waving my goodbye and making my way to the bathroom the male employees used, agreeing with Levi that riding a horse was a seriously dirty business. But it was also the most fun I had had in days, and I grinned at the memory of Levi's excitement to fly across the small patch of Earth. I would definitely be making sure he made his way back out there soon, and it was quite possible I'd try to tag along myself.


	7. A Letter For You

Levi's POV

 

When Yeager came to collect my dishes after lunch today, I half expected him to demand I go riding again. I actually had my response ready in the back of my mind, telling him that he's a shitty brat and asking him if he wanted me to give him lessons. But there was no bounce in his step when he came into the greenhouse after lunch, no grin plastered on his face. I frowned at the taller boy, but before I could ask him what the hell had him sulking he dropped a letter on the small table I sat at. My eyes were immediately drawn to the royal seal stamped into the wax keeping the envelope closed, and I mentally cursed.

"Letter for you." I followed his gaze to the seal, and I snatched the letter off the table before he could examine it for too long. I tore the envelope open with a scowl, and upon reading the letter's contents wadded it up and threw it to the ground. "Your lover would be horrified to know you did that."

"Lover?" I blinked, taken aback, and quickly examined Yeager's expression. He still looked moody, and refused to look into my eyes, instead going over to the letter and picking it up. I didn't bother to stop him- there was no way he could read it seeing as the only language he knew aside from English was German- but I still felt myself stiffen when he flattened it out to skim his eyes over it. Whether I was annoyed that he was trying to read my mail or I was worried he would somehow find out about my heritage I didn't know, but I still had to suppress an urge to grab the letter from his fingers.

"Yeah. Isn't that what lovers do? The letter thing. Everyone else would just call or send a text or something..." Despite the dejected tone in the burnet's voice and the way he still refused to meet my eyes, or maybe because of those things, I felt a ghost of a smile curve my lips upward.

"Don't be stupid. I don't have anyone like that." The effect was immediate: his face turned upward, his eyes regained their weird glowing quality, and as if suddenly realizing what had been said by us both he turned bright red.

"Ah... Good... I mean... Good that you're not crumpling a letter that was from a significant other." I smirked, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms, highly amused by the brat who was now pulling at strings to save himself. "Uh... So what was in the letter?"

"A request for me to travel down to Florida to meet up with some old business partners of mine. I've tried getting them to leave me alone, but my parents keep setting them on me." The embarrassment on his face vanished, replaced with confusion and excitement. 

"Why do your parents have control over your business partners? Are you going to go? Will you be close to the theme parks?" I rolled my eyes, but I wasn't really annoyed with the barrage of questions.

"It's a... Family business. Traditionally the female takes control of the business when the time comes, so I've never entertained thoughts of taking over since I have a sister. Though really, even if I were in line to inherit the...business, I wouldn't want it. The business is the biggest reason I moved away from my family. From where I come from, my family's business pretty much controls everything, so I had to move pretty far away to get away." Yeager still looked a bit confused, but he nodded and I let out a breath of relief that I was able to pull that off without giving anything away about being royalty.

"So... You're not going to go?" I shook my head, and the burnet's face fell. I averted my eyes, not really wanting to see his crestfallen expression for the second time that day. "But Levi! Florida! With Disney and Universal and SeaWorld and-"

"Ew. Do you have any idea how many germs are in those places?" Yeager scrunched up his nose, and I let out a chuckle under my breath at the sight. "And I don't want to go see those assholes."

"They can't be that bad." I gave him a skeptical look, and he sighed. "Come on, really. You should give it a chance!"

"If this was somewhere where there weren't any theme parks, would you be fighting even half this hard to try and convince me to go?" Yeager shook his head solemnly, and I once more felt a smile tug at my lips. "What makes you think that you'd get to come, anyway? I could go and spend an entire week at Disney and leave you here with the rest of the staff to clean."

"Easy. You'd get bored without me. That or you'd be so tired from working the whole plane ride and through the night that you'd fall asleep in front of the business partner people or walk in front of a bus." He paused, widening his eyes dramatically. "You could die without me, Levi!"

"So I should take you to Disney?" It was harder to hide my smile now, and I did my best to disguise it as a smirk.

"No, no, no! You should go do your meeting for work, then you should take me to Universal. Disney's fun, but I prefer the roller coasters at Islands of Adventure. My mom used to take me a ton like, five years ago. It was the best..." I opened my mouth to make a comment about something he said at the beginning of his reply, but snapped my mouth closed when he mentioned his mom. Shit- how the hell was I supposed to respond to that? Frustrated, I scowled, something Yeager took as resignation. His grin grew wider, and I knew then that there was no way I would've denied him anyway.

"YES!" He picked up my dishes as he had meant to do when he had first came in, handing me the letter back. "How long will we be gone? When will we leave?"

"We'll leave tomorrow morning. Can you handle packing or do I have to do that for you?" He shook his head, claiming that he was perfectly capable of packing himself, and I shrugged. "If you forget something, it's on you. We'll only be gone for a few days, three at the most. You can choose whichever park you want to drag me to for the day after I'm finished dealing with business shit."

"Awesome! Thank you so much Levi!" I nodded in acceptance, finally letting my smile slip into his sight. I watched him skip out of the room, practically radiating sunshine and rainbows and magical unicorn sparkles, and hummed my own happiness at the prospect of the trip with the brat. I could deal with a theme park. A lot of noisy, dirty people? Sure, why not- just can't forget hand sanitizer.


	8. Movies

Eren's POV

 

I awoke this morning to a rap on the door to the room Armin and I shared. I groaned and let Armin stumble out of bed to get it, rolling over so that my back was to the door and whoever it was that insisted upon waking us up.

"Oi, Arlert, is Yeager still asleep?" I sighed heavily when I recognized the voice as Levi's, then turned back around to face the doorway and the two figures in it.

"Yes. He's currently dreaming about being magically zapped into the Candy Kingdom in Adventure Time and eating the entire palace." Levi shifted his gaze towards me when he saw me move, rolling his eyes at my words.

"Hm. That's a shame. I was going to let the brat know that I'm leaving in an hour with or without him, but I suppose he'll just sleep through it all and not go to Universal." I bolted upright in bed, now fully awake, and grinned at Levi. 

"I'm awake! I'm awake! Do we really leave in an hour?" Levi nodded, and I rolled myself out of bed and raced over to the corner I had put my suitcase in the previous night after I had finished packing. I began tugging it over to where Levi and Armin still stood in the doorway, but before I could get very far I heard Levi sigh and advance towards me. I turned, ready to ask him if we would be taking his private jet again, but was stopped when he flicked me on the forehead.

"Brat. I said we leave in an hour, and you may want to get dressed before we leave. Come eat in the greenhouse with me when you're ready for breakfast- I don't want to have to search for you again." I looked down at what I had been wearing, feeling my face go red with embarrassment when I took in the minimal amount of clothes I had worn to bed. I nodded, and tucked my suitcase back in the corner I got it from, trying to ignore Armin's stifled giggles.

"I'll come. You want me to bring your breakfast along with mine?" Levi paused, then nodded. "Alright, see you in a bit!" 

Levi nodded once more and left the room, Armin closing the door behind him with a slight duck of his head. I moved to get dressed, but not before flicking Armin off as he finally dissolved into laughter. Of course, that just made him laugh harder, so I was forced to do my best to ignore my friend. I hurried down to the kitchen the moment I was ready, not bothering to wait for Armin, and grabbed the breakfasts that had been prepared for Levi and I. I began making my way out towards the greenhouse, but ran into Jean along the way.

"Why are you carrying two plates?" I sighed, not wanting to be delayed, and shifting so that he knew as much.

"Because I'm eating in the greenhouse today before we leave." Jean raised an eyebrow, and I scowled. "No, really Horseface, Levi told me to eat in there with him so that he doesn't have to track me down again."

"Armin mentioned something about you leaving on a trip with the master today. He's really letting you tag along to one of his business meetings?" I turned to Marco, who had just appeared at Jean's side, and nodded.

"Well, I found out it was in Florida and flipped out about it until he agreed to let me come. We're gonna go to Universal after he deals with the boring business stuff!" Marco looked surprised, but said nothing, and Jean just rolled his eyes and kept walking. Marco raced to catch up with the stable boy, and I shrugged and continued towards the greenhouse.

"Tch. Took you long enough." I made my way towards Levi where he sat at his table reading a book, ducking my head down to glimpse the title as I set our plates down. I scrunched up my nose when I realized that it was yet another of his books in a foreign language, then stood upright again and turned around in pursuit of another chair for me to sit in. 

"Hey, Levi, are there any extra chairs kept in here?" Levi pointed towards the storage closet artfully concealed by ivy and flowers without raising his head, and I made my way to it and pulled out another chair. After bringing it back I sat down and picked up my fork to start, but glancing up at Levi I frowned and stopped what I was doing. He was still reading, and as nice as it was to know that he was absorbed in his book, I wasted no time in yanking it from his grasp.

"Shitty brat! What the fuck are you doing?" I glared at being called a 'shitty brat', but still glanced at the page number before closing the book and placing it by my feet. "Yeager!"

"You were the one who woke me up this morning to tell me to come eat here with you, so eat! We only have 40 minutes now before you said we were leaving, and I for one am not going to miss it." Levi rolled his eyes, picking up his fork to begin.

"You're aware that because I own the jet, we can leave whenever we want?" I shrugged and continued eating, and Levi sighed before doing the same.

We ate mostly in silence, the only conversation when I asked him if his book was good and what it was about. When we were done, Levi waved me off when I moved to put the chair away before trailing behind me to the kitchen, where I put our dishes and said my goodbyes for the next few days. Levi went over to Ymir and Historia and gave them hushed instructions, coming back looking annoyed at their amusement. Levi gave me a pointed glare when I moved to ask what he had said, so I opted for just shrugging and waving goodbye to everyone once more and following the older man out of the room. We split up to collect our bags, meeting back up at the front of the house and making our way out the door of the large mansion into its long curving driveway. Levi motioned for me to put my suitcase in the trunk of the car waiting for us, then slid into the backseat and once more motioned for me to follow his lead. Marco came out soon after, getting into the driver's seat and starting the car.

"So you'll be flying us there, right?" Marco glanced back at me through the rear view mirror, then nodded.

"I'll drop you guys off today, so when you know when you want to come back call me to let me know." Levi made a small noise which both Marco and I took to be acknowledgment, and I grinned at him. When he raised an eyebrow my way, I leaned in close and whisper-shouted the reason for my enthusiasm.

"We're going to Universal!" Levi rolled his eyes and said nothing, leaving conversation for the drive up to me. "So, what are you going to be doing with the business people? I bet it's something really boring, like sitting around a huge table and looking at papers."

"No, we're going glow in the dark mini-golfing." I felt the car jerk slightly as Marco responded to hearing Levi joke, while I myself was stuck between laughing and asking if he was serious. So I just sat there, staring wide-eyed at the older man.

"Did you... You just made a joke, didn't you?" Levi scowled and looked away, and my astonished stare soon dissolved into a grin and then laughter. "Le-ha-Levi! I don't think I've ever heard you make a joke, but that doesn't mean you had to be embarrassed by it!"

"Tch. I'm not embarrassed." I rolled my eyes, scooting closer to him and poking his shoulder.

"Oh really? You just turned around and refused to meet my eyes after I called you on having a sense of humor because you're happy I noticed?" There was no comment from Levi, though I heard Marco snicker up in the front seat. Still grinning, I reached out a hand and nudged his face towards me, grinning even wider at the sight of a light blush dusting his cheeks. I ran a finger over one cheek where it was tinted pink, watching the blush darken slightly as I pointed his embarrassment out. "This says differently."

"That's not from..." He trailed off before bringing a hand up to move my arm back to my side, and I sighed before scooting back to my seat as Levi looked away once more. I stared down at the hand that had touched Levi's cheek as if it was a foreign object, the car suddenly feeling stuffy and awkward. I blankly noted that my cheeks were burning, and that Marco was glancing back at us every few seconds, but my mind drew a blank when I tried to focus on something, anything. Luckily, Freckled Jesus was in the car with us, and sensed the sudden tension in the backseat.

"Uh... Eren, what are you looking forward to at Universal?" And just like that, the blankness and squirmy feeling in my stomach vanished, and I spent the rest of the drive describing my favorite rides to Marco, who had never been to any of the theme parks in Florida before. Levi remained silent, but as the time went by he began to relax back into his seat, and eventually when I glanced back at him he was looking back at me. I gave him a small smile in apology, not faltering in what I was saying, and he nodded stiffly before once more averting his eyes. 

When the drive ended, I hopped out of the car to admire the jet. The last time I had seen it I had been too hyped up on the excitement of everything that had happened to appreciate my ride, so I took a moment now to take in its sleek appearance and the way it absolutely screamed that whoever owned it was made of money. I glanced back at the car to see Marco holding the door open for Levi, and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, that guy...

"You know Levi, there's this crazy new thing where you open the door yourself! You don't have to wait for anyone to come fetch you, and you're left with the satisfied feeling of being able to accomplish one of the most simple of tasks. You should totally try it out sometime!" Levi scowled, and while I was still excited for the trip we were taking I felt my grin falter when I noticed that he wasn't looking at me but a space just to the left of my head.

Making a mental note to ask Levi about it later, I waited for him to catch up to me before bouncing over to where Marco was holding open the door to the jet for us. I glanced over my shoulder at the shorter man before I entered, unsure if it was alright to go inside before him when it was technically his jet, but he just waved me on. I grinned and immediately plopped myself down on the couch and turned on the tv. On second thought, I went to get the movies I had put into the front pocket of my suitcase, only to realize that I didn't have it with me. Face palming, I made my way back to the open door, raced down the steps, and went over to the trunk of the car where Marco was getting Levi's bags.

"Sorry, Marco!" I moved to take my suitcase, but Marco swatted my hand away.

"I'm putting them in the compartment made to hold this stuff; you don't have to help. Though if you need something from yours, get it now." I nodded and thanked my friend, collecting the movies I had brought and going back into the jet. Levi was waiting for me on the couch, watching the door for my return so that when I bounded back up the stairs he met my eyes before he abruptly turned his head away. I frowned, but shrugged it off as I went to the couch to sit by the raven-haired man. 

"Okay, Levi, before you picked me off the streets I had a pretty amazing movie collection, so I grabbed a few so that we could keep ourselves entertained on the flight. Any preferences between these three?" I held up the movies I was holding so that Levi could see their titles: Howl's Moving Castle, Hachi, and Pacific Rim. Levi's eyes flicked up to meet mine once more before scanning the movies, reaching out to take them from my hands to read the synopsis on the back of each DVD case.

"I haven't seen any of these." I gasped, letting out a small 'no!' before shaking my head in mock disappointment. "I don't watch movies often, so I'll just have to take your word on which one of these is the least shitty."

"Levi! How dare you insult my taste in movies! Well, you'd probably like Pacific Rim the best, so we'll start with that." I put the movie into the small DVD player beneath the television before returning to my spot on the couch next to the corner Levi had huddled himself into. 

The movie started and saved us both from attempting conversation without Marco in the room to help, and by the time we had touched down in Florida Levi had been completely absorbed into the movie. I found myself studying his face instead of the movie, intrigued by how the distraction had caused his muscles to slacken and his eyes to widen slightly. I watched him flinch more than once during the movie, and to my amusement he was leaning forward slightly. I was brought back to when I had seen him riding his horse and the excitement it had brought to his normally expressionless face, and I wondered what else could be done to get the older man to show emotion like he was then and now. Since I had only been half watching the movie, I noticed that Marco had come into the room to fetch us first, and I reached for the remote to pause the movie. We were about halfway through it, and I had to stifle a giggle when I paused it because Levi jerked backwards when I did, surprised to be wrenched from the world on the other side of the screen.

"Sir, are you alright?" Levi blinked before waving Marco off, and he nodded before exiting the jet to fetch our luggage. I turned back to Levi and grinned, ignoring the way his eyes immediately flicked to the spot to the left of my head again.

"See? My movies are 100% shit-free." Levi rolled his eyes, and I imitated the action before getting up and offering a hand to help him up. He glanced at the hand, then at my face, then at the spot to the left of my face, then back at my hand. I watched something flicker behind his eyes as he accepted my help, frowning when he released my hand and brushed past me the second he was up.

"It's not bad." I sighed and followed Levi out the door Marco had opened for us after putting Pacific Rim away and grabbing the rest of the movies. I helped Marco drag our suitcases out of the jet, then slipped the movies back into the front pocket of mine and followed Levi to the cab that was waiting for us. I was about to ask whether Marco would be joining us for this drive too, but he got back onto the plane the moment we were situated in the cab. I waved out the window at his retreating form, then turned to Levi and tried once more to strike up a conversation.

"Have you been to Universal before? Probably not with your aversion to theme parks... Have you been to any theme parks ever?" Levi shook his head, and I gave him a look of pity. "Poor, abused old man. Well, we'll change that! What other things haven't you done? We can make a list of things I've got to get you to try!"

I took out my phone and went into the notes section, mind already searching for possible things to do with the shorter man. He'd probably seen snow from his business trips- he'd probably seen a bunch of stuff. So I racked my mind for things he might not have done for whatever reason and began interrogating him.

"Have you gone camping? Like, in-a-tent-with-campfires-and-s'mores-camping." No. Of course not, camping would mean being in the woods with dirt. How awful. "How about... Going to the beach? Or ice skating?" Another head shake.

"Why would I need to to sleep in a bunch of dirt, or swim in salt, or slide around on frozen water? It's pointless. I'll just end up getting filthy or injuring myself." I frowned, then turned my attention from my phone to give Levi a skeptical glance.

"Why do you go horseback riding? Because it's fun, that's why." Levi sighed, but let me continue to make my list. When I was satisfied with the list for the time being, I looked it over once more before handing my phone to Levi. "So which one do you want to do first? After going to Universal."

"Do I have to pick one?" I nodded, and he sighed again, giving in. "I suppose going to a movie theater doesn't sound life-threatening. But I swear, if you drag me to one where the floor's covered in popcorn and shit, I will never forgive you."

"So then no dollar theater. Okay. Well, when we get back I'll pull up a list of movies that are playing at the nearest mall, and you can choose from that!" I grinned at Levi, excited that he had agreed to go through the list with me. Levi nodded, and for a moment he wore a ghost of a smile, but of course then we had to arrive at our hotel and ruin it.

Levi talked to the cab driver as I hopped out of the car to grab our bags. I shot the shorter man a triumphant grin when he opened his own door instead of waiting for me to do what I wouldn't do and open it for him, then handed him his suitcase. He opened his mouth to protest, but I started walking off into the hotel before he could get a word out. My back was to him, but I could practically hear the scowl on his face as he tried to catch up to me. He did just as I made it to the desk, where he took charge immediately and got us our room keys and led us to the elevator. When he pushed the button for the top floor and then led us down the hall to the King Suite, I almost flipped out. Almost, as in, I totally flipped out.

"Holy shit, Levi! Really? I can't believe I finally get to stay in one of these things! Do you always stay in the largest suite there is? Did you pick this hotel because of that? Oh my fucking god I cannot believe I get to stay here!" Levi rolled his eyes and unlocked the door, then pushed me inside when I didn't move from the doorway. "It's... BEAUTIFUL! Does it have a water bed? I bet it has a water bed. Isn't that a rich people thing? Water beds? Man, I wish I was rich."

"Jesus Christ, brat, it's a hotel. There's no water bed." He sighed when as he watched me deflate slightly, and I kicked at the floor in disappointment. "Come on, let's get lunch, alright?"

"Fine... Do you have somewhere you want to go, or- OH! Can we get room service? Please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please with a cherry and sprinkles and whipped cream and hot fudge and caramel and bits of crushed Oreos on top?" Levi rolled his eyes, but I didn't miss the reappearance of the ghost of a smile he gave me sometimes.

"If that's what you really want. I don't care either way; I've stayed here before and their food wasn't too bad." I let out a whoop, then ran around trying to find the menu for room service. I was coming out of the closet when I saw Levi holding it, and after making it known that he should've called for me I skipped over to read over his shoulder.

"Ooooh, it's like a they stole a bunch of fancy chefs and put then to work down in the basement. I don't even know what half that stuff is. Do they have pizza?" Levi shook his head stiffly, and at the realization that I had been hovering a bit closer than I had to I took a few steps back and just waited my turn. "I cannot believe they don't have pizza. That's ridiculous! Well, how about pasta?"

"Half the menu is pasta. Here-" he handed me the menu, pointing to a large section where most the names seemed French. 

"And I suppose a magical French fairy is going to come along and help me read this?" Levi smirked, then pointed to the first dish and went down the line describing them. "So... You're the magical French fairy?"

"No, I know French because my mother is from France." I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't, so I sighed and told him what I wanted. He nodded and went over to the phone, but upon looking at it scrunched up his nose and called me over to order for him. "That thing is filthy- there is no way I'm touching that let alone putting it against my face."

So I ordered for both of us, and managed to pronounce the French thing I was getting well enough that I knew I hadn't ordered steamed socks or something of the sort. While we were waiting for our food, Levi showed me which of the rooms was mine (the only difference being that his apparently had better lighting), so I dragged my stuff into that room and took out all of my movies that I had brought. I had only brought three of them onto the plane, but I had brought about ten in total. I took them over to where Levi was putting some of his stuff away in his room and dropped them on his TV stand.

"Here. I know you don't sleep well, so if you're having trouble falling asleep you can watch one of these. You can finish Pacific Rim by yourself, I've seen that movie like ten times now so don't worry. And you said you hadn't seen the other movies either, so here's those and some others- educate yourself on the culture of today's youngsters. Just keep the volume down." Levi looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. He was looking to the left of my head again, but once more I did my best to ignore it.

"Thanks, brat." I nodded, less annoyed by the nickname than I had been when he first started using it, and left the room to roll around on the couch waiting for our food.


	9. Friends. Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY WOOP WOOP

Eren's POV

 

I awoke with a shout, unable to recall the nightmare that had plagued me but still in a cold sweat nonetheless. I sat in the darkness of my room for a few minutes, trying to slow the rapid pounding of my heart and get my bearings, only remembering where I was when my eyes had adjusted to the dark. I lay back down in hopes of falling back asleep- the harsh red numbers displayed prominently on the bedside table told me it was still three in the morning- but the terror from within my dream had shaken me too badly and I was wide awake. I sighed, sliding out of bed to get a drink of water, but when I opened my door I heard the faint sound of music and shouting coming from Levi's room. Edging closer, I peeked through the crack in the door where it hadn't been closed all the way and go a view of the TV in his room playing Ender's Game. I blinked a few times, then smiled and slowly pushed open the door.

"Hey, Levi?" He whipped his head around, nearly falling off the bed where he was sitting, then scowled and chucked a pillow at me when he saw who it was. 

"Tch, brat, you scared the living shit out of me." I scrunched up my nose, not wanting to imagine living shit, then picked up the pillow to use as a shield in case Levi decided to throw anything else at me. "What do you want? Actually, what are you doing up right now?"

"Oh, um, I had a bit of a nightmare, and I couldn't fall back asleep, and then I saw that you were up watching movies in here..." In the darkness of the room, I was unable to read Levi's expression as well as I could in better lighting, so he appeared to be expressionless as he nodded and turned back to the movie. Taking that as an invitation to join him, I walked closer before sitting down on the bed beside him. "Thanks..."

"They're your movies in the first place, idiot." I grinned, knowing that the reason he hadn't turned to look at me as he spoke meant that he probably had some sort of half-smile tugging at his lips and didn't want me to see. I considered asking if he'd been up all night watching movies, but I decided better of it and focused my attention on the screen. It was a good movie, but I was tired, and I felt warm and safe and wasn't shivering anymore, so I drifted off about half an hour later.

When I woke up for the second time that night, my first instinct was to curl up closer to the source of warmth beside me, but upon doing so I snapped my eyes open and back pedaled immediately. Levi was staring at me, looking a bit sleepy himself, and I felt myself burn with embarrassment at the realization that he had been the source of warmth I was trying to cuddle into.

"I- I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... I was still half asleep, you know, I was a bit cold and you were really warm- I mean, I just wanted-"

"It's fine. You fell asleep awhile after you came in here, and you landed on me in a way that I couldn't change the movie after it was over, so even when you're asleep you're forcing me to rest." I could see the smirk on Levi's face, but I could only concentrate on the fact that I had fallen asleep on top of him... Did that mean I leaned his way when I had fallen asleep, or that I had moved closer in my sleep? I squeezed my eyes shut, mumbling out apologies as I tried to will away the burning in my cheeks. "I said it's fine, brat. I actually slept really well- I just woke up a few minutes ago. So, thanks, I guess..."

"Um... You're... Welcome...?" I risked a glance at him, surprised to see the hint of color on his cheeks, and his smirk had shifted into a self conscious smile that almost looked nervous. I sighed, glad I wasn't the only one embarrassed by the situation, then something occurred to me. "If you woke up before me, how come you didn't just shove me off and get up? I could've woken up an hour from now!"

"I wasn't unhappy with the situation." I squeaked, catching a glimpse of how the shorter man's cheeks had darkened slightly before burying my face in my hands. We stayed there, frozen in place, for five incredibly stretched out and painful seconds before Levi cleared his throat, moving to get off the bed. "We should get ready. Breakfast."

I sighed and took my hands away from my face, nodding, then followed him out of the room to where he picked up the menu we had been looking at last night. He flipped it over to look at the breakfasts, scanning the list before finding what he was looking for and handing it to me. I ordered for us both again, seeing as the phone hadn't magically banished all of its germs in the night, and soon we were both eating around the small table off in one corner. The embarrassment from before had begun to slip away now, so I was able to prod Levi into a conversation, laughing and talking and eventually forgetting the morning occurrences. In a lull in the conversation, though, Levi looked up at me and frowned.

"You can't come to the meeting I have today." I opened my mouth to whine out a protest, but Levi shushed me with a waving hand. "Listen, you can't come. You won't be able to understand anything anyway."

"If I can't understand it, what's the matter with me being in the same room as you guys while you talk business?" Levi's frown deepened as I pouted, and I could tell he was listening to conflicting emotions.

"You just can't. It doesn't have to do with the content of the meeting. It's more how they would treat... Us. You would be treated more like a servant than a..." He trailed off, and he looked down as if unsure of how to label me, so I took a breath and finished for him.

"Friend." Somehow it hurt to say it, but I did it anyway, with as much resolve and finality that I could muster. Levi nodded, still looking down, but I saw his frown disappear to be replaced by an impossibly blank face, and I wished desperately to be able to see his eyes and what he was feeling then. There was silence between us for a bit, both of us taking breaths to speak only to let the air out in a deflating sigh when we couldn't find anything to say, and then I nodded and sat up a bit straighter. "Alright. Of course. Okay. Sure. I'll stay here. Will you be back by lunch?"

"No. Feel free to get room service then. I'll be back by four." I nodded again, slouching down once more and nibbled at what was left of my food. We remained silent for the rest of the meal, and then Levi got up abruptly and walked stiffly to collect my plate and place it along with his outside our door to be picked up. Then he disappeared into his room and shut the door, and I didn't see him again that morning until he left an hour later, dressed up nice but still wearing a blank expression and not letting me see his eyes. I murmured a goodbye as he left, then collapsed onto the couch and curled up into a ball in an attempt to fall asleep, not to wake up until that evening.

 

~~~  
Levi's POV

 

Friends. Right. Wasn't that what I had set out to become with Eren when I first met him and decided against telling him who I was? Wasn't that what I wanted? I told myself this over and over as the day went by, but the stupid noblemen kept talking in stupid voices about stupid stuff and Eren wasn't there to lift my spirits up. He had probably grown a flower garden back in the hotel suite to prance through, making friends with unicorns and throwing marshmallows up into the air to catch them in his mouth. He was probably smiling. He had a beautiful smile. I skipped lunch.

The meeting was long and formal and boring, and for once I made no move to stop them from showing whatever form of respect they wanted to. Bow, curtesy, look for a ring to kiss, whatever. I just couldn't bring myself to care. They made their points, I made mine, they squabbled amongst themselves, then I signed something that basically meant, 'yes, I agree that things should stay as I told you little shits to keep them'. The ride back to the hotel was borderline terrifying and exciting, since all I had wanted to do that day was see Eren, talk with Eren, laugh with Eren, but I also knew that once I stepped through that door I would be back to acting as a friend. But was I acting? No, no, of course not, remember? You wanted to be friends.

Oh, fuck this, I didn't want to be a friend. I wanted to wake up every morning with Eren curled up into me, I wanted to be able to interlace our fingers as we walked down the street, I wanted to be so much more than a friend to Eren. I hadn't meant to develop feelings for the shitty brat, I hadn't even realized I had. But then I was friend-zoned this morning, and it hurt so fucking bad to even look at him now. What could even become of us if I hadn't been friend-zoned? I couldn't tell him how I felt, I probably wouldn't have even realized that I had feelings for him since being told we were friends this morning was what brought the realization. If I did tell him, what did I expect? Sure, I knew he was gay, but that didn't mean he would have feelings for an old grumpy man who also happened to be his employer and a prince from a foreign country who's very existence to Eren was a lie.

I opened the door to our suite hesitantly, expecting to see him grinning at me from the other side of the door, but to my surprise I had to look for him. I found him curled up on the couch, in a fitful sleep looking anything but happy. I frowned, for while I hadn't really wanted to see him joyful after this morning, I never wanted him to look sad... I hesitated, then reached out a hand to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen in his eyes. He stirred, and I yanked my hand away, but his eyes remained shut and his breathing remained even so I replaced my hand and continued running my fingers through his hair. God, it was so soft... I shifted my hand to brush my fingers over his cheek, smiling when he shifted in his sleep and muttered something that sounded like 'tickles'. I kneeled beside the couch, settling in to go back to slipping my fingers through his hair. Something shifted in his dream, and the mournful look he had had on when I arrived morphed into one of contentedness.

I smiled sadly at the sleeping boy before sighing and removing my hand, standing up. I let the smile slide off my face as I walked towards my room to change into something less formal, rubbing at my eyes when they turned blurry. I didn't cry, but I came so close that part of me wanted to just give in to the tears and let them all out. But then I would hear Eren shift on the couch and I would squeeze my eyes shut to stay strong, reminding myself that I was, and could only ever be, a friend.

Eren woke up about an hour later, rubbing at half opened eyes and hair sticking up in a way that almost made me smile again. We ate dinner in our suite just as we had the previous night, and of course Eren couldn't just let me mope through it. He kept on trying to get me to talk to him about anything, but I did my best to just keep my head down and stay silent.

"Levi... Come on... Please talk to me..." I thought I heard something break in his voice, and I risked looking up at him. I was shocked by the desperate look in his eyes, the strain of his smile. When he caught me looking he tried to fix it, but the damage was done. He probably thought I was ignoring him because I didn't want to be friends with him, that I would've preferred eating by myself or that I was dreading our trip together tomorrow. I squeezed my eyes shut, covering my face with my hands, not wanting to ever see that broken expression on Eren's face ever again. It would break me, too...

"I just... I had a hard day today." I could tell he was nodding, but I knew he didn't completely believe my answer. I felt him stand up, flinching when he started walking towards me. He stopped, and I wanted to tear my own throat out when I realized he had seen my flinch. I knew he had to be nodding again, deciding he wasn't wanted. He turned slowly, walking away towards his room, and I shivered as I compressed myself into a ball in my chair before standing up, letting out a cry that was broken and cracked. "E-Eren! Wait! Please..."

My vision was blurry again, and I wiped at my eyes wildly as Eren turned back to me hesitantly. We locked eyes for a single moment, and then I collapsed onto my knees and I couldn't wipe at my eyes quick enough. Eren stepped closer and kneeled by me, taking my chin in his hands and tilting my head up to look at him. I felt him searching my eyes, looking for what I don't know, and then he took a shuddering breath. A single tear rolled down my cheek, and Eren hesitated a second longer before leaning down and kissing the tear away. I froze, heart pounding in my chest and cheeks beginning to flood with color, and then I collapsed into Eren's arms as my eyes cleared with even the thought of crying becoming distant. I felt a buzzing happiness flood from my chest to everywhere else, and as Eren wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair I started shaking uncontrollably from the sudden shift from despair to jittery happiness.

"Do you... Are you alright?" I pulled out of Eren's arms to meet his eyes, smiling up at him. 

"More than alright. Thank you." Eren's face was bright red, but at my words he seemed to glow from both embarrassment and pride. He squeezed me tighter, and when I looped my arms around him I let out a breathy chuckle as he stiffened. "Relax."

"This morning... When I said we were friends..." I shook my head, but didn't pull myself away from the embrace a second time. I was so happy in his arms, so warm and safe, it took me a moment to recall the hopelessness and depression I had felt earlier when I thought he only wanted to be my friend.

"No. Not friends. Please, please not friends. I can't be only friends with you, Eren. I can't do it." I heard him mumble what sounded like consent, and then much to my displeasure he pulled me away from him. 

I opened my mouth to ask him why the fuck he had let me go, but the words were lost when his lips slammed against mine. I was shocked at the sudden boldness, but recovered when I felt him slip his tongue inside my mouth. I reached upwards to tangle my hands in his hair, fighting back for dominance to let him know that that was one thing I wasn't letting him have. He let out a squeak when I quickly took charge of the kiss, and I pulled back to let him breathe. I chuckled at his surprised but satisfied expression, placing a kiss on the tip of his nose and leaning my forehead against his. I grinned at him, basking in the euphoria of what had just happened and banishing any negative thoughts to the back of my mind to deal with when I wasn't sitting on Eren's lap.

"You kiss like a brat." He scowled at me, but my grin didn't falter. "Hey, I never said I was unhappy with it. Practice makes perfect, you know."

"Oh my god, Levi..." But he kissed me again anyway, and my grin could only grow wider. "It's nice seeing you happy. You rarely ever smile..."

"I usually don't have a reason to smile. Now I do." I buried my head into the crook of Eren's neck, trying to curl up small enough so that he couldn't find me to pull me away again. "I'm sorry for dinner. That was miserable..."

"Mm. You plenty made up for it. I'm so happy right now..." I hummed happily into his neck, chuckling at how cute Eren was when he shuddered at the feeling. "So now..."

"Now I find the strength to get up and take you to my room, where we'll fuck and then fall asleep and wake up and you can drag me around all the theme parks you want." I pulled my head back as I spoke, wanting to watch his reaction, then chuckled again and sat back completely when turned into a bright red stuttering mess.

"T-that's... O-oh..." I smirked, then picked one of his hands up with both of mine, cradling it before bring it up to my lips to kiss it before standing up and using that hand to pull him off the ground. "You didn't have to... Do that..."

"I wanted to. Idiot. Come on. My bedroom." Eren looked at the ground, apparently torn between trying to sit back down to avoid further embarrassment and not wanting to let go of my hand. I didn't think that he could get any more red, and I decided to make the choice for him by interlacing our fingers. I tugged at his hand in the direction of my room, cocking my head when he mumbled something at the floor. "Speak up, brat."

"I asked if you were sure..." I sighed, but I still couldn't wipe the stupid smile off my face.

"Of course I'm sure. I don't think I could wait that long now that I know 'friends' wasn't ever an option anyway." Eren nodded, and my subconscious failed yet again as my smile grew wider instead of disappearing. I pulled at his hand again, and this time he let me pull him along. He squeezed my hand, and when I glanced back at him, his smile matched mine. I knew there would be consequences for leaping immediately from depression to uncontrollable joy to fucking, but I think that that's what spurred me on. If we waited, I'd have to make it through that time that would not only stretch my patience but I'd have to make it through telling Eren- shit. Now I had to tell Eren who I was... I internally groaned, not wanting to deal with anything right now. For now, I was happy.


	10. Universal

Levi's POV

 

Eren smells really amazing. That was something that I learned after waking up this morning, surprised that even the sweat and dried cum didn't taint how fresh Eren smelled. I hummed happily and buried my nose into the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply and letting out a satisfied sigh before leaning back to watch Eren sleep. He shifted at the new noises and movements on the bed, starting to wake up but obviously wanting to stay asleep. He tightened his hold on me as he yawned, then half opened one eye to look at me.

"Hi." I chuckled at the single word, watching the the boy slowly recollect his thoughts and wake up. I waited anxiously for him to recall the events of last night, to freak out, to yell at me, but it never happened. I knew he had to have remembered because he had turned bright red and let out a small 'oh' at one point, but instead of getting mad or upset with me he broke out into a grin and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes at the soft touch, for once content with my world, and smiled slightly at the younger boy. "Last night was fun."

"I agree. Can we do that more often?" Eren turned a bit redder but nodded, still grinning. "And I finally found the cure for my insomnia."

"Really? That's great! Oh, I'm really glad that you'll be able to sleep properly! What was it?" I rolled my eyes at his obliviousness, reaching over to poke his forehead. He frowned, confused for a moment, but when it hit him he let out another small 'oh' and his expression shifted into one of pride. "Yay."

"You're ridiculous." I sighed, then shifted so that I could see the alarm clock. "What time should we leave for Universal? It's a little under an hour away."

"Oh! I forgot we were doing that!" He sat up, pulling himself away from me and untangling our limbs. I groaned, half distracted by the view of Eren's chest that he had just presented to me but more put out that going to a filthy theme park had taken precedence over me. At the disappearance of my sleepy half-smile, Eren frowned and studied my expression, then sighed and leaned down to give me a quick peck on the lips. "Come on, Levi, don't mope. We'll cuddle together again tonight, right? And the night after that and the night after that. I'm not abandoning you, if that's what you're worried about. I have to go back to my room- er, the other room- to get dressed, and then we can spend the rest of the day together, okay?"

"Hmph." I rolled over so that my back was facing Eren, burrowing under the covers as he sighed.

"Levi, come on, don't be like that. Look, I'll go grab my clothes, and then I'll come right back here and we can take a shower. Deal?" I grumbled but turned back over, nodding, then extended an arm and motioned for him to come closer again. He did so, leaning down and letting me pull him down for another kiss before I let him scamper off to get his clothes. I watched him go, still wanting to just laze around in bed with him, then let out an exaggerated sigh and got out of bed to rifle through my suitcase to pull out some clothes. I almost fell over when Eren ran back across the room and pounced on me, clinging onto my back and giggling. "Oh goodie, you're out of bed! I was beginning to think I'd have to drag you out, and then you'd be sour with me all day."

"Brat. You know I can't be upset at you that long." Eren giggled again, and I sighed before standing upright, letting Eren slide off my back so that I could lead the way to the large bathroom connected to the bedroom. We showered and dressed relatively quickly, Eren prodding me along anytime I showed signs of dawdling, and he made me order a breakfast that could be eaten on the way there. Eren seemed confused when the same 'cab driver' showed up to pick us up in yet another nice car as the one who drove us to our hotel, but luckily he didn't ask. I had arranged with the chauffeur a few days ago to meet us in Florida- he actually worked under my mom, but neither one seemed to mind when I accepted the request to meet with the noblemen and women yesterday. 

"Alright, so when we get there we're going to have to wait in a bunch of lines before entering the park, so prepare yourself. And any bag you bring with you will be searched, so keep that in mind. I don't think I saw you take anything but your wallet, but I figured I'd warn you in case you flip out at the people there." I bunched up my nose at the thought of being searched and standing around in the unbearable Florida heat and humidity, and to my surprise Eren giggled and leaned over to kiss the tip of my nose, and my unpleasant expression vanished. "You're adorable."

"No. Stop. No lying." Eren let out yet another giggle, which quite honestly was a sound I would never get tired of hearing, and I felt my cheeks turn pink as I turned my head away.

"Not lying, won't stop. Honestly, Levi, you're so cute!" I frowned, covering my face with my hands and shaking my head even though I was still turned away from him. "Hm. I've decided that I love seeing you like this. Hold still, I want a picture."

"Fuck no!" I snatched Eren's phone from his hands, ignoring his protesting squeak. I glimpsed at his unlocked screen, then up at where he sat with his arms crossed, and then turned back around as I searched his phone for his contacts. Finding it, I wasted no time in adding myself as a new contact before tossing the phone back to its rightful owner. "There. Seeing as how we live together and there are basically zero instances when you're more than a few rooms away from me you may never need it, but..."

"Scared of getting lost in the big bad theme park?" I scowled and glared at Eren, who grinned and winked at me. "Oh don't worry, I know you just want to sext with me later."

"Eren!" He dissolved into laughter, and I frowned at him and told him that he was an idiot.

"Okay, okay, I've had my laugh. So what kind of tickets did ya get?" I thought for a moment, but not able to recall what it was called just shrugged.

"Whatever the one is that lets you skip to the very front of the lines. Something like king's pass, or-"

"President's pass! How'd you get your hands on that one? That one is literally worth my entire life. You don't even have to wait in the Fast Pass lines, you just show up with that thing and they're like 'right this way gentlemen' and take you by some super secret route to the very front of the line! You can even choose which seat you want!" He paused, frowning. "But, seriously, how'd you get that? Last I heard, it was impossible to buy. You had to have some sort of connection with the higher ups inside the park."

"Who said I don't?" Eren looked at me incredulously, and I shrugged. "My parents. Remember how they kept sending those business men after me and I kept refusing to talk to them? Well when they found out I had accepted they flipped their shit and asked me if there was anything I needed. I asked if they could arrange for me and one other to skip through all the lines at Universal, and they sent me this."

"Woah. It's even laminated..." I had pulled out the pass, which looked like some VIP thing into the backstage of a concert, and Eren was looking at it as if it were some sort of God. "Jesus Christ, I know you don't like hanging out with your parents, but when can I meet them? They must be, like, the super-ultra-mega-powerful rulers of the universe!"

"Something like that. But I'd really rather you not meet them. Ever. I hate them." Eren frowned at me, and I remembered what he had said about not taking parents that cared for you for granted. "You know, they probably think I've met a girl since I asked for me and one other."

"They don't know that you're..." Eren trailed off, looking unsure how to finish what he was saying.

"Gay? No. They're a bit... Old fashioned, though, and have been attempting to get me into an arranged marriage since I was little. The only reason they let me brush it off so far is because where they live it's custom to give control of a company to the daughter, not the son. Which I've always found odd, since in any other circumstance I have more power than my sister." Eren made a 'continue' gesture, and I sighed upon realizing he wanted her name. "Promise you're not going to go home and google her?"

"Depends. Why can't I google her?" I frowned, trying to find a way to say this without giving my secret away.

"Well... There are more Levi's out there than you'd think, but my sister's name is less than common. The whole point of not giving you my last name was so that you couldn't google me and look into my parents." Eren raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. "I just really wish I wasn't a part of that family. For now, at least, I'd rather you not associate those dicks with me. I promise to introduce you to the family someday, though, alright? As I said, they probably think I found a girl and will want to meet you at some point anyway."

"Fine. I promise. So what's her name? You've mentioned her before, too, but I still don't have a name to go along with the female version of you swimming around up here." He tapped his head, and I rolled my eyes.

"Mikasa. Please don't ever call her a female version of me again. It's terrifying." I shuddered, and Eren laughed. The rest of the ride was uneventful, conversation consisting of Eren rambling about how happy and excited he was and me amused as I watched him practically radiate sunshine and bubbles. Even though I wasn't driving, I felt myself tense as my chauffeur made his way through insane traffic to park. I stared out the window, just waiting to get into a huge car accident and end up dead along with twenty other people, so when Eren reached out to poke at my cheek I didn't see him coming. The sudden contact startled me, but now that Eren had my attention he forced me to look away from the window and took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"It's fine. We're just parking. Any second now, the car's going to come to a stop and we're going to hop out and have a great time! To help you remember where you parked, each section has a name, alright? Don't look out your window 'cuz I'd rather you not flip out again, but right now we're in Jaws. Have you seen that movie?" I shook my head, but Eren kept right on talking. "I haven't. The other night you were watching movies, what ones did you watch? Did you see the Avengers? I think I had one of the Iron Mans in there too. I'm not a huge fan of Captain America, he's just a moderately strong guy with a shield. There are real life people who train their lives away and get as strong or stronger than Captain America, so really it's just the shield. You know, you really should watch more movies, it's ridiculous not to spend time watching them. I can't believe you've never been to the movie theater before! It's unheard of! It's alright, we can go together when we go back and- we're here!"

"Jesus fucking Christ do you ever run out of breath?" I had been focused on Eren's rambling so that my attention had been completely drawn away from the mess of the parking garages, and now that we were parked I didn't shit my pants when I got out and looked around. I suppose that the point of it had been to distract me, and I felt a rush of gratitude for the younger boy. He got out quickly and rushed over to my side of the car, grabbing my hand and looking up at the sign above our heads.

"Okay, Spider-Man 208. Can you remember that?" I shook my head, but on second thought nodded and pulled out my phone to put the parking section in my 'memory'. "Nice, Levi. Now come on- did you grab the super special President VIP pass?"

"You make it sound like the ultimate treasure- is waiting in line that bad?" Eren made a face and shrugged, indicating a so-so experience.

"Depends on how hot it is. Middle of summer, it's torture, but sometimes it's not too bad if its indoors because they do a good job of making the lines entertaining. Another reason I prefer Universal over Disney." We set out following the flow of people, and I concentrated on the way Eren was swinging our arms back and forth so that my mind couldn't start imagining the huge crowds waiting for us. "So, you've never been to a theme park before, which means you've never been on a roller coaster... Well, lets hope you're a fan, because there's no way I'm not riding Dragon Challenge back-to-back with that fanciful pass your parents wiggled out of some official or another."

We reached a large hub full of noisy, germ-y people and I froze, unsure of where to go or what to do. Eren just tugged at my hand and steered us through the mob of people to where officials where checking bags, and I stiffened in spite of the fact that Eren led us through a gate for people who didn't have bags. The people thinned out a bit after that, leaving the walkways crowded but not as densely packed as the hub had been. There were moving sidewalks that honestly freaked me out, but Eren got jittery at the sight of them and pulled me on with him. I clutched the railing since it was moving along with the walkway, watching the scenery pass though I wasn't walking. It was really fucking screwed up.

When we made it to the CityWalk or whatever Eren called it, the mass of people grew thicker once more and I was jostled around by the flow of people, though Eren seemed to be able to navigate the mess with relative ease. After flicking off a passerby who had almost spilled her latte on me, Eren rolled his eyes and told me to weave through the people instead of walking through them. Apparently here, at least, no one was going to part the way for me to walk. Part of me wished for a royal fanfare to make them do just that, but mostly I was just happy to be here with Eren, just another face in the crowd. I froze again at the sight of the lines to get tickets, but with a grin plastered across his face Eren led me past those right up to the gate separating us from the park. He took the pass from around my neck and waved it at a worker on the other side, who came closer to inspect the pass before nodding and opening the gate for us.

"I have always wanted to do that, ever since I knew these existed. I only do now because I knew someone from school who was able to do this once and she came in and told the whole class about it. Some people didn't believe her, but mostly people wanted to know how they could get one. Mind if I hold onto the pass? At least for a little longer?" I shook my head, smiling slightly since I had been surprised he hadn't asked earlier, and he jumped up and down with anticipation.

"Anywhere you want to go first?" I picked up a map from a nearby vendor, frowning at the over-the-top colors and jumbled layout.

"Oh, well, we could just make our way around the loop. I want to go this way first; there's something I want to check in the Jurassic Park section. Have you seen that movie?" I shook my head, and Eren nodded, unsurprised. "Well, basically some people find mosquitoes frozen in amber that have dino blood in their bellies, and they extract it to create a bunch of dinosaurs which they put in a theme park. Surprise, surprise, it goes horribly wrong. It's a good movie, we should watch it together sometime."

"Hm." I would never admit it, but the fact that Eren had switched completely over from saying 'you' or 'I' to saying 'we' made me feel extremely happy and brought back a bit of the euphoria I felt last night. "Fine by me- lead the way."

Without hesitation he began pulling me along, pausing every so often when something caught my eye to let me examine it. Despite the noise and crowds, it wasn't all that horrible, and I had to admit some of the stuff was pretty cool. Soon Eren was changing course to enter an area in the Jurassic Park section that I was pretty sure was meant for kids. What I saw confirmed my belief: a jungle of nets created a fortress complete with tunnels that led who-knows-where and areas where I could hear kids screaming and splashing water. Eren, however, took no notice of my inquisitive look and marched onward, a twinkle in his eyes and a grin that seemed just a bit wider than it had been a moment before. Instead of leading me to the mass of tunnels and slides and ramps made from rope I thought he would've, he dragged me towards a ride off to the corner that I hadn't noticed before.

"So don't kill me, but I haven ridden this in years and I used to love it and it may not work anyway but if it does don't kill me I just really want to try I used to love this ride-"

"Eren, what the fuck are you rambling about?" Eren cleared his throat, looking guilty, and I felt a bit of worry course through me.

"Umm okay. So you see this ride I want to get on? Well, it was really popular so instead of putting a 'you must be at least this tall to ride' on it they put a 'you must be this short to ride'. So long as you have a companion who meets the height requirements, anyone can ride..." I glared daggers at Eren now that I understood what he was implying, and he grinned guiltily at the ground but continued walking us towards the ride. He pushed me towards the pole marked with lines and colors displaying who was and who wasn't short enough, cursing when I came up just short of going over the height limit, pun not intended. Eren clapped his hands together in glee and showed the man stationed there the pass hanging around his neck, and after a glance my way he snorted and led us around the line up a set of stairs to the area where people where boarding seats hanging from colorful Pterodactyls.

"I hate you." Eren looked slightly dejected by the words and mouthed a silent apology as we were put on the next dinosaur. Each 'car' only sat two people, short in the front and tall in the back. The ride was fairly short and not unpleasant, though it was slightly slow and had a few moments were I thought it was going to break and we would fall to our dooms. I was still sulking when we got off, and as we walked back the way we had come from Eren pulled me down a tunnel that landed us in somewhere dark with lots of man-made fog and creepy cave sounds, though there were glowing plastic rocks meant to look like jewels in the walls of the cave so it wasn't all bad. After glancing around quickly, Eren took my face in both hands and tilted it upwards as he bent down to kiss me, and I felt most of my sour mood slip away as I returned the kiss.

"Better?" I sighed, then nodded and slipped my arms around Eren's waist and leaned my head against his chest so that his voice held a buzzy quality to it when he spoke and I could hear his heartbeat. "Sorry for making you do that. I just really missed that ride- though in my mind it was a bit better than it turned out to be. Really, sorry for making you be my short accompaniment for that..."

"It's fine, I guess. You know I don't really hate you. Though I swear, I was about ready to claw that worker's eyes out when he laughed at me when he realized I met the height requirement." Eren kissed the tip of my head before stepping back and taking my hand again, glancing towards where voices where coming up through the fog and sounds of water dripping.

"Come on, lets get out of here before I lose you, right?" I snorted but made sure not to let go of his hand, letting him guide me through the tunnel system back into sunlight (which burned and hurt to look at for a few seconds) before he once more began tugging me along to go on other rides. Next up was the Jurassic Park water ride, which had a huge drop that was nothing compared to the little fuckers who popped out of the water and squirted long streams of filthy water on us. That was about it for our dino-adventure, though there was one highly amusing part as we walked towards the next themed section where Eren stepped on something that triggered a roar to sound from the underbrush, causing him to yelp and jump up into the air only to land right back on the thing that started it and triggered it again. I had chuckled and pulled him off the spot and steered us away from other spots where dinosaur footprints had been put into the ground, although part of me wanted to watch him get startled by the sound a million times over.

As the day passed, I relaxed into the feel of the theme park, not letting the crowds or noise bother me. I learned that roller coasters were one of the best things men had ever made, riding all of them over and over and then pouting when Eren said he was sick of that particular coaster and couldn't believe I loved them so much and had never bothered to get my ass on one before. Whenever there was a reference to a movie I didn't understand- which happened every ten minutes- Eren would take the time to stop and explain it, and though I never said anything about it I made sure to show my gratitude with a squeeze of his hand or a peck on the cheek or a ruffle of his hair. I resolved to watch most of the movies Eren described to me, and let him choose most of what we did. For lunch we had to wait around an hour before getting seated at what was supposedly the best theme park restaurant in all of the US, but even that time was enjoyable as Eren dragged me outside to watch people create jewelry from balls of iron and copper and look at swords and daggers in the shops nearby the restaurant. I noticed how his eyes lingered on all the blades and tugged him away before he could even begin asking, knowing it would be near impossible to refuse him.

"Come on, brat, I have some real swords at home if you want them. I may have a dagger or two as well." All of them had been gifts from noblemen and women back when I had lived in the palace, and were one of the few things I had kept from that time. I had learned to fight with them, and after that it just seemed like a waste to get rid of them.

"Really? Oh, Levi, you really are the best!" I felt my lips tug upward in a smile as he tackled me and hugged me tight, nearly lifting me off the ground. 

With fifteen minutes left before our table would be ready, Eren rushed me over to see one more thing: a talking fountain. I spent at least five minutes searching for where the cameras and mics were that allowed it to hold conversations with us, but upon being unable to find any proceeded to throw insults at the fountain to watch its reactions. For the most part it came up with a witty comeback, and Eren would snicker behind his fingers and I would cuff the back of his head, but after a bit it seemed to grow tired with me and someone somewhere pulled a lever or pushed a button that made one of the fountain's various extra spouts aim towards me and release a good amount of water right in my face. Eren didn't even try to hold back his laughter, not even when the fountain hit him next, and soon I was chuckling alongside him. We walked back to the restaurant hand in hand once more, dripping wet and with the remnants of laughter playing across our features.

After lunch I was dragged back into Harry Potter land, where Eren 'accidentally' ended up in line for Butterbeer and pleaded until I gave in a whole three seconds later to get him a cup. I tried to get myself to care that my resolve was near nonexistent, but then Eren took a sip of the fictional drink brought to reality and lit up, lowering the cup to reveal his upper lip was lined with the foam that topped the creation and the thought was forgotten altogether. I tugged him downwards to lick the foam from his lips, smirking when he blushed bright red and stuttered out a protest about people looking. I shrugged but gave him a quick peck on the lips and took a step back, watching with amusement as Eren tried to regain his composure. When he had, he forced me into trying the drink, but I didn't like it nearly as much as he did.

"Too sweet." Eren stared at me with wide eyes, and I shrugged.

"Levi, that's why it's so amazingly perfect! It's as if someone combined cream soda and caramel and root beer, and then it has this spectacular cream on top! It's so good!" I shrugged again before leaning against a wall of a shop that proudly sold pucking pellets and extendable ears and a whole assortment of things I couldn't let Eren near for fear he'd want to bring one home. 

After he finished we continued through the park, oftentimes riding something back-to-back if we liked it since lines weren't an issue. Seussland scared the shit out of me, and I tried desperately to get Eren to skip that part of the park, but he remained stubborn and I soon found myself cowering next to him on a Cat in the Hat ride. Eren laughed at me but wrapped an arm around me to pull me closer, giggling at the spinning of the ride and telling me that he doubted I had ever read any Dr. Seuss stories and that it would be good for me. I got off the ride feeling sick, trying to pull the cute burnet who had seemed to become a permanent attachment on my arm (not that I was complaining) away from the hellish place and back to someplace where I didn't feel like anything said out of rhyme was a crime. Shit. POETRY GODDAMNIT!

But Eren wouldn't have any of it, leading me instead onto another water ride. This one was had a name I dared not to even think lest I wanted rhyming to become a permanent fixture of my life, but it was themed around two particular primary colors, two numbers, and fish. Eren dragged me into a large plastic fish as everyone else hurried to grab a seat themselves, telling me to keep my hands off the controls. The ride started, and I once more found myself cowering next to Eren as I tried to block out the cursed rhyming and annoying voice. 

I didn't even think of our placement until after Eren began moving our fish up and down in accordance to what said annoying voice told him to do, when it hit me that he was doing the very opposite thing that he was being told to do. Frowning, I opened my mouth to tell him as much, but then I was hit by what must've been the fourth or fifth stream of disgusting water. I let out a small 'eek' when I realized that I was on the outside to shield Eren, who was controlling the fish to make sure I got wet.

Gritting my teeth, I waited until we came close to the next torrent of water before ducking, efficiently dodging the water and sending it at Eren. He yelped but then broke out into laughter, and I found myself once more unable to be angry or even just a bit annoyed at the brat. When we got off I made sure to let him know of my displeasure at being wet yet again, but he only smiled and let me lead our escape from Seussland. We had skipped the Marvel and Cartoon sections when we first arrived since we headed directly to the Jurassic Park section, so we made our way there now and I took one look at the Hulk roller coaster before nearly leaving Eren behind trying to get to it. 

I caught him rolling his eyes at my excitement, but I scowled and stuck my tongue out at him as I grabbed him by the lanyard holding our pass to drag him over to the worker at the end of the line. We arrived at the front of the line just as the next coaster arrived, and I didn't hesitate to choose the front car and set in place the necessary safety precautions as I waited for Eren to join me. It was fun, but to my great disappointment it wasn't nearly as good as the Dragon Challenge coaster back in Potter land Eren showed me. Said brat raised an eyebrow at my annoyed expression when we got off, and I scowled at the ground as I lifted a hand to rub at the back of my neck.

"It was too loud. And it rattled me around too much- I have a headache now." Eren leaned down to kiss my forehead sympathetically, and I felt some of my displeasure disappear instantly.

"Sorry. I prefer Dragon Challenge because it's an inverted coaster, but I'd say that avoiding headaches is a much better excuse to avoid this one and just spend extra time in the Harry Potter world." I sighed but didn't say anything else as Eren took my hand again, mentally celebrating that I had spent a good deal of the day holding hands with the brat.

We rode a few other rides in the Marvel section (including the Dr. Doom Fear-fall which, I loved and Eren hated) before moving on to the last section we hadn't spent time in. I never spent any time reading comics, so the Comic Book section wasn't as much fun for me since it was mostly just water rides and a restaurant or two. When we were satisfied that we had made our way through everything, we began heading back to the entrance to go through CityWalk to find dinner, but before we could leave something caught Eren's eye and he turned to look at me, face determined.

"Have you ever had a churro before?" I frowned and shook my head, not surprised when I was pulled over to a stand where they were cooking and selling what I pulled together to be churros. They looked like they would be too sweet or at least too greasy and gross, so I refused when Eren tried to get me to try one. But he sat me down with a churro and wouldn't let me up until I had at least taken a bite, so I shot a few choice words his way and took a small bite off the dessert. I was surprised it wasn't all dough and that it had a filling, but what really shocked me was that it wasn't bad. It was sweet, yeah, but not as sickeningly sweet as the Butterbeer Eren had forced me to try earlier. I made no comment as I took a second and a third bite, but the smug look on Eren's face made me rethink that and I tried to come up with an excuse as quick as I could before he got too proud.

"I'm hungry, okay?" Eren nodded and grinned, getting up and waiting for me to stand as well before heading towards the exit onto CityWalk. I followed, churro still in hand, and let the younger boy guide me through the mess of shops and restaurants and people to a small pizza place on the second story of chaos. I had finished the churro by this point and threw away the wrapper, moving to lick my fingers but stopping and wiping them off with a napkin I snatched from a table nearby while glaring at Eren when I caught him watching. We were in fact both very hungry, and we agreed to split a small pizza before finding one we both decided would be good and ordered that. While we were waiting for it to come, Eren took out his phone to check the time before nodding and looking out the window we were sitting by and nodding again.

"You know, there's a movie theater right there, and it's only six..." I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling.

"Brat. What did you want to see?" Eren broke out into a grin, then looked back out the window to squint at the movie theater. I followed suit to find that you could just barely see what was playing from where we sat, and I looked back at Eren to watch him mutter movie titles under his breath as he seemed to be searching for one in particular. Upon finding it he brightened again, then turned back to me.

"I've wanted to see Maleficent for awhile now..." I nodded, and Eren whooped with joy as our pizza arrived. "Thanks! Alright, so then we have... 25 minutes to eat before we should get over there and buy our tickets. You fine with that? It'll be playing in 3D."

"Sure. What's this one about?" Eren drew in an exaggerated gasp, holding a hand to his heart, and I looked on unamused as I waited for him to answer.

"It's a twist on the Sleeping Beauty story, from Maleficent's point of view." I stared at him blankly, trying to figure out why Sleeping Beauty sounded familiar. "God, Levi, you're hopeless! Honestly, where in hell did you live where you lived your life so uncultured? Here, I'll pull up the Sleeping Beauty tale on my phone."

He did that as we ate, and after finding it he handed his phone to me where I was able to read the story. I thought the whole idea of dying from pricking your finger was stupid, and waking up because some random guy kissed her and claimed to be her true love was even more stupid, but the villain turned herself into a dragon so that was cool. We finished quickly after that, paying and leaving as soon as possible so that Eren could rush us down to the theater. 

When he saw me pull out my wallet it seemed to occur to him for the first time that day who's money he had been spending, but I waved him off and told him I had money to blow anyway. My mind flew back to the separate and much larger account I kept open back from when I lived in the palace, a fund that I only kept in case some emergency caused me to be unable to pay for my life style with the money I had earned myself, and I grimaced at the thought of just how much extra money I had when Eren may have been broke and jobless right now if I hadn't met him when I did. 

Eren frowned at me for a second longer before shrugging, letting the money situation go and instead pulling me over to the concession stand. I chuckled at the sudden change from reluctance to use my money to asking to spend more of it, but I kept my thoughts to myself as I complied to the burnet's wishes. It was all worth it anyway to see him smile for me, so there was no point in holding back. Besides, it was my first time at the movie theater, who says I don't want popcorn myself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT?! That President's VIP pass thing- it's real. Everything I wrote about it- real. My step-mom's dad owns a HUGE food company that supplies most of the theme parks here in the sunshine state, and also happens to be friends with the head chef (the one with the biggest hat) at Universal. The head chef there basically decides all the foods to evah be available, so he's got some pretty big influence and got the President's VIP pass thing for me and my sister's birthdays- which happen to be two days apart so there ya go. The only things I didn't mention about the pass is that it isn't actually a pass but the president of Universal's ID, so you can only borrow it, and the reason they only needed one is because it's good for up to 8 people. I like the number 8.
> 
> Also, sorry if you guys don't really understand some of the stuff I mentioned this chapter. I did my best to describe things so that people who haven't been to Universal could understand, but from someone who's gone a zillion times it was a bit hard. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask..


	11. Back Home

Eren's POV

 

We spent that night at the hotel suite as well, since by the time the movie ended (which was amazing and had me in tears) and we made our way back to the cab who's driver had fallen asleep waiting for us it was already late. I once more had to keep Levi's focus on me while we made our way out of the mess of cars and insane traffic directors, but even after we were back on the highway I had more than enough things to talk about to keep him entertained. He said he enjoyed being in the movie theater since seeing it in 3D was cool and it was such a huge screen, but he thought the movie itself was only okay.

"I still think the pricking-finger thing is lame. Though, I am glad the whole 'true love at first sight' was scoffed at." I nodded, then upon letting my mind make the proper connections inhaled sharply and turned to Levi with the most serious expression I could muster.

"Frozen. You have to watch Frozen. It's all singing and magic and talking snowmen!" Levi made a face, and I laughed and ruffled his hair to his great annoyance. "I don't care how much you hate all the music, it's happening. As of today, mission Emergency Culture-ify Levi is in action. Oh, have you seen any of the Studio Ghibli films? I think I brought my collection of those here... And what about Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and Star Wars? Ack! There's too many things I have to show you and places I have to take you! Did you spend your whole life locked in a tower or something?"

"Or something similar. Parents weren't a huge fan of that sort of thing. Entertainment was horseback riding and fencing and etcetera." I widened my eyes, half horrified that my boyfriend had to live such a pitiful life and half amazed he knew fencing.

"You poor, poor soul. Were you good? At fencing?" Levi snorted and nodded, and I grinned. "Ever win anything?"

"I was defending champion from since I was six until I left." I gasped, then squealed at the mental image of a six-year-old Levi cranky and holding a sword. "What?"

"Do you have pictures? From when you were little." Levi frowned, looking both a bit confused and wary.

"Even if I could find some, there's no need for you to see those." I shook my head forlornly and gave Levi a look of pure pity.

"Ah, but there is. I have contracted a rare illness that can only be cured by looking at photos of cute babies and toddlers." Levi scoffed, and I frowned.

"Little kids aren't cute. They're monstrosities, always filthy and taking stuff that isn't theirs. And then diapers basically just carry shit around, I don't know who invented them but they need to be punished. Severely. Maybe by being dumped at a daycare or something. And they're so loud! And when they speak, it's either not speech at all and some unintelligent gibberish or their words are so heavily accented by their youth it's impossible to listen to without throwing yourself down a fucking well." I tried- and failed- to hide my giggles behind a hand, taking Levi's hand and squeezing it.

"Well, apart from hearing you speak lie after lie there, that was pretty fun to listen to. Come on, Levi, just one photo? Or two or five or ten?" He shook his head, and I let out a whine and let go of his hand to turn away and pout. I counted the seconds but only got to three before Levi had taken my hand again and was trying to pull me towards him, kissing the tip of my nose in an effort to bring back my smile. "Yay! I win!"

"Nope. I told you 'even if I had pictures', I don't have any. I don't even know if my parents have any. I suppose it's possible my mom's advisor has some, but I'm not risking contacting her. Shitty four eyes would freak out that I established contact with her and demand to see me in person." I laughed again, though I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't see pictures.

"Awwww... I am saddened." Levi made another face, and I had to resist the urge to giggle.

"Don't do that." I raised an eyebrow, and he looked away. "The sad thing. I don't like it. Smile instead."

"Awww, Levi~" I squeezed his hand and smiled at him, and he returned it with a half-smile of his own. Soon we were back up in our suite, where Levi clung to me and whined about being exhausted from letting me drag him around and how he wanted to go to bed as I got myself a drink. The sight was adorable, and part of me wanted to find an excuse to stay up even later to watch him whine some more, but I was tired too and let him steer me towards his- our?- room when I was done. He wasted no time in burrowing down under the blankets, and I followed suit and pulled him closer before burying my face in his hair and closing my eyes to fall asleep. 

When I awoke the first thing I felt was cold, so I pulled the blankets up to my chin and reached a hand out to find Levi, but his spot was empty. Sitting up now and frowning, I looked around the room with one eye as I rubbed at the other, but when I was still unable to locate the older man I groaned and slid out of bed. It was eight in the morning, so I suppose I should've been up in the first place, but I was still exhausted and didn't want to go back to bed without Levi. I found him in the kitchen on his phone, and I snuck up on him to wrap my arms around his waist and rest my chin on his head, giggling when he let out a soft yelp when the contact surprised him. Telling the person on the other end to hold on for moment, he lowered the phone and turned his head around to shake me off and give me a kiss.

Now satisfied with being up, I returned to my original position as Levi resumed his conversation, which I pieced together to be with Marco about meeting him later this morning. When he was done he put his phone away and turned in my arms so that he was facing me completely before slinging his arms over my neck. I grinned down at him, and he rested his head on my chest as wondered if I would be lucky enough to spend every morning for the rest of my life with a sleepy Levi.

"You're more affectionate when you're tired." Levi frowned, but didn't pull away. "I like it."

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine. Sleep well?" I shrugged and glanced wistfully back towards the room where a warm bed seemed to be calling for me. "Mm. You can sleep on the jet, for now order breakfast and start packing your stuff up. Don't forget your movies."

I nodded and scanned the menu before calling down to order our food, then began packing my things up. I didn't have much, but it seemed to have magically scattered itself everywhere in that infuriating way your room becomes messy when all you do is sit in one spot so I wasn't done before our breakfast arrived. We ate and finished packing, then hurried down to meet the cab that Levi had called. I still thought it odd that it was the exact same cab and driver from before, and I didn't think I had seen Levi ever pay him, but who knows- maybe he payed in advance. The ride to the jet was mostly quiet, since both of us were still tired from the full day yesterday. Marco met us with a smile, which I returned before giving him a hug, but then Levi took my hand again and forced me to get onto the jet instead of having a conversation with the freckled boy. 

I grumbled but let him pull me onto the couch, where we both collapsed and cuddled into each other as we waited for Marco to get our luggage and come aboard to take us home. Neither of us bothered to put a movie in, instead carrying out half-asleep conversations that didn't make much sense. Levi was asleep by the time Marco got onto the plane, falling into dreamland soon after he shifted positions to lay his head in my lap. I was running my fingers through his hair when Marco came on, who I acknowledged with a blink and fell asleep myself before I could do much else. If I had been awake for even thirty second more, I would've seen Marco pull out his phone to take a picture of us and send it to the gang back home, soon to become Historia's wallpaper and the hot topic when we arrived.

When we did get there, Marco shook me awake and gestured for me to do the same to Levi, and after yawning and stretching I smiled down at the shorter man and brushed my fingers against his cheek, leaning down to kiss his forehead and mumble into his ear that it was time to wake up. He stirred and moaned out that he didn't want to, but I kissed his forehead again and he sighed before opening his eyes. He sat up and looked around, catching Marco's eye and blinking at him before falling back down and moaning again.

"Everyone's going to give me hell about this when we get inside." I raised an eyebrow, and Levi gestured at us. "This. Us."

"Oh." I waited for Levi to get off my lap, but when he made no move to do so I sighed and pushed him off so that I could get up. He frowned when I got up, reaching out and wrapping his arms around my hips so that when I moved I dragged him off the couch. I laughed at the expression on Levi's face, more awake now, before helping him up. He refused to let go of my hand once I had done so, and I rolled my eyes at him. "Weren't you just complaining that everyone's gonna make fun of you- and me, too, actually- about this?"

"If I'm going to go down, I may as well go down in flames." I shrugged and let Levi lead me off the plane, but when I went to help Marco with the suitcases both of them protested. "No, stay with me."

"It's fine, really. Besides, something tells me your not much of an ordinary employee here anymore..." Marco laughed and I scowled, but when I turned to Levi he nodded.

"Mmhmm. Listen to him. He's a smart brat." I stopped and put my free hand on my hip, frowning.

"I'm not staying here for free unless I continue working here." Levi scowled, then thought for a moment.

"Tch. I'll deal with this when we get inside. I'll just change your job description a bit." I sighed but continued into the mansion with Levi, both of us stopping just inside the door when we were greeted by the entire staff standing around and watching us with knowing smirks and grins.

"How was your trip, Sir? Have a good time?" We both scowled at Sasha, who was beaming at us but was also obviously trying to hold back giggles.

"Decent. Don't you shitty brats have anything to do?" Most of them nodded, and Levi glared at them pointedly, but no one moved to let us through.

"Hey Yeager, get some dick finally?" I spun on Jean, bright red and sputtering, but Levi sighed and squeezed my hand to calm me down.

"Yeah, actually, he did. I'm sure you're jealous he did so before you could hook up with Bodt, but you can go cry elsewhere. Now go run off to do whatever the fuck it is I hired you little shits for before I fire the lot of you." I cuffed Levi over his head for being so blunt, but I was one of the people who laughed when Jean turned red at the exact moment Marco walked through the door. The horse face took one look at him and bolted from the room, causing us to laugh harder and those who weren't laughing to join in as they slowly dispersed out to do their jobs. Marco looked confused for a moment before shrugging and turning to Levi.

"Sir, do you want me to put Eren's stuff back in-"

"My room." My blush darkened once more and I looked at the ground, but I was smiling. "Eren, when you have the time go fetch everything from the room you were sharing with Arlert and switch it over, okay?"

"Okay. I should go, too, since I also have things to do..." Levi shook his head before dismissing Marco and leading me down a few halls to his office, where he opened a drawer and picked out a file folder that held everyone's contracts. He rifled through it for a moment before finding mine, then tore it in two. "Hey! I already told you I wasn't staying here for free..."

"I know. But I'm at least doing this." He opened his laptop and clicked through a few files before finding what he wanted, making a few changes and then printing it out. He read it over once before signing it himself, then handed it and the pen over to me. "Here- I just switched your job. I used to have one person dedicated to be my 'personal assistant' back when I lived with my parents, your job will be like that. Screw whatever jobs you had been doing, now you basically just stay in the same room as me and wait for me to ask for you to do something. It'll rarely happen, maybe if I just want some tea or some shit, but it is technically a job you can get paid for. Quite a bit, actually."

"Levi, that's cheating!" He shrugged and sat back in his chair, and I let out an exaggerated sigh before signing the contract. Levi took the paper back looking smug, filing it away and putting the file back in his desk. I sighed before saying that I would go get my stuff now, and Levi nodded and let me go. It was going to be a long day, but at least I wouldn't be around everyone else a ton so I couldn't be victim to their taunts.

...Or so I thought before I got a text from Armin with a picture of Levi and I asleep on the jet, both of us in poses that suggested quite a bit more intimacy than what would be considered professional.


	12. Mikasa

Levi's POV

The rest of the day was uneventful; I tried to catch up on work that I should've been doing while Eren sat in the corner, texting the rest of the staff furiously. It had started with Arlert- Eren had showed me the picture Bodt had taken and had sent it to me at my insistence, but soon most of the staff was had joined in, taunting Eren since none of them dared tease me so directly. Every once in a while Eren would let out a groan, or curse at the phone, and after his umpteenth sigh I mimicked the action before turning in my chair to face him. He glanced up at me, then down at his phone, then at the hand I held outstretched for him to put the phone in my hand. He sighed again before doing so, as if giving up his phone was physically painful for him. I scanned the texts that had been sent, and upon noting that everyone was doing so in a group text I began to compose a reply myself.

Fuck off or you're fired- You, 9:46pm

Says who?- Horseface, 9:46pm

Me.- You, 9:47pm

And what are you going to- Horseface, 9:47pm

Oh shit- Horseface, 9:47pm

Uh- Horseface, 9:47pm

Your Highness?- Horseface, 9:47pm

Good going Kirschtein now I have to erase this- You, 9:48pm

Sorry! We're done! We promise!- Horseface, 9:48pm

Good. And if I hear you're messing with Eren again I will waste no time in finding you and punishing you as I see fit. Am I being clear?- You, 9:49pm

Yes, Your Highness!- Ymir, 9:49pm

YMIR! He just talked to Jean about that!- Historia, 9:49pm

Well he's already erasing it...- Ymir, 9:50pm

What if he had already erased it?- Historia, 9:50pm

Umm... He erases it again?- Ymir, 9:50pm

Not if you two keep bickering like the little shits you are- You, 9:51pm

Oh, right. We're done now, Your Highness- Ymir, 9:51pm

I'm just going to go clean something... Excuse me Your Highness- Armout, 9:51pm

Sleep well, Your Highness- Historia, 9:52pm

I should go make your tea now... I'll be right there, Your Highness- Connie, 9:52pm

Connie do we have any potatoes? Uh, good night Your Highness- Potato Freak, 9:52pm

Yeah... The horses probably need... Something... Sorry, Your Highness- Horseface, 9:52pm

Good night, Your Highness- Freckled Jesus, 9:52pm

"You call you friends so weird shit." Eren laughed, and I erased the conversation before handing the phone back to him. "There. They won't bug you anymore."

"What did you tell them- aww, why'd you delete the conversation? I was looking forward to reading how they reacted once they realized you had my phone." I shrugged, turning back to the last of what I had to do today.

"They all suddenly realized they had shit to do." Eren laughed again, putting away his phone and looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing. He frowned, realizing he couldn't read it, and I found myself grateful yet again for that fact since I was actually responding to an email from Erwin asking when I was coming back. 

"Could you teach me that?" He gestured at the screen, and I scowled.

"And have you spying in on what I'm saying to people across an ocean? No, thank you." Eren pouted, and I sighed. "Here, just let me finish this and I'm done. My father's advisor is always asking me when I'm going back there, and I'm trying to convince him that I meant what I said about never coming back. Seems convinced I can't do shit without the influence I had when I associated myself with my parents."

"Hm. Why don't you go back? You said I'd get to meet them eventually, right?" I let out an exasperated sigh, sending the email and standing up to stretch.

"Tch. If they want to meet you, they can come find me. It's not that hard." I stepped closer to Eren, slumping into his embrace. "Work's hard. It was so much nicer when we were down in Florida and I didn't have to worry about it. Let's go back."

"Levi! You know you have to do your work!" I groaned, not lifting my head from his chest, and he tightened his grip on me. "But... If you really want to, no one is going to stop you from taking holidays once in a while. And I have my list of things I have to do with you so you're not as sheltered and uncultured."

"Brat, you make it sound like I was locked in a dungeon until you came around." Eren laughed, and I closed my eyes as I was able to both feel and hear the treasured sound. "How often is 'once in a while'?" 

"Exactly what it sounds like. Not often." I groaned again, and Eren kissed the top of my head. At that moment the door opened, and I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to hide in Eren's embrace as I remembered Springer said he'd have my tea ready. Eren looked up at the doorway, then tried to step away as heat colored his cheeks. I frowned, but let him pull away as Springer set the tea on my desk with a half-bow of his head. I caught him snickering at Eren, but when he noticed my glare he shut up and hurried from the room mumbling apologies.

"Oi, Eren, you don't have to hide away like that when someone comes in. They all know anyway." Eren nodded but stayed in the corner he had retreated to, and I sighed before grabbing my tea and taking a few sips so that I could walk without it spilling. I started for the door, then turned to make sure Eren was following. "Come on, brat. Bed time for me is in just an hour- think you can come up with something fun for us to do in that time?"

I chuckled as Eren turned bright red but hurried to catch up anyway, grabbing my free hand as he trailed along just behind me as I headed to our room. Eren immediately jumped into bed and hid himself under the covers, while I rolled my eyes and finished my tea. The lump under the blankets kept fidgeting, until finally a mop of chocolate brown hair followed by glowing Caribbean orbs and reddened cheeks poked out of the blankets to look at me. I raised an eyebrow, and he ducked back under the covers for a moment before cautiously peeking out again. He watched me drink for a bit, and as he continued to fidget I made sure to take extra pauses between sips and emphasize each swallow until finally Eren let out a whine and gave in.

"Hurry up, Levi... It's no fun waiting..." I smirked, and for a moment Eren seemed to consider giving up and burying himself under the blankets to hide once more.

"Waiting for what?" Eren let out another whine, and I chuckled before setting down my cup and making my way towards the bed, where the uncomfortable and impatient look in Eren's eyes was replaced with anticipation. "Think I could go to bed just a bit late tonight, Eren?"

"...technically you're in bed already..." I smirked triumphantly, what was left of my tea forgotten.

~~~

Days past in utter bliss, each morning the first thing to flood my senses was Eren and each night the last thing I remembered would be the same beautiful person. He could go from cocky little brat to sputtering red mess within a second, and I made sure to take advantage of that fact whenever I could. The brats in charge of gardening had done as I had asked them and kept the extra chair in the greenhouse for Eren, so we ate all our meals together as well. That's where we were now, though we had both finished our lunches and I was sitting and watching as Eren wandered among the trees and flowers, chasing the butterflies if they fluttered too close. Abruptly he stopped, turning to me with a questioning look.

"I love this place. It's probably my favorite place besides our room, but why do you always eat here? I know I asked before, but..." I sighed, resting my head in one hand.

"When I lived with my parents, it was my one way to escape. I would hide among the trees and shrubs and whatever the hell else the gardeners decided looked nice, and I would pretend-" I broke off, unable to look at Eren. He came over to me and kneeled by my chair so that he was looking up at me, looking eager and happy I had decided to tell him. I looked at him for a moment, then gave in. "I used to pretend I was a jungle boy. And that I was stranded and never knew who my parents were but that they were simple commoners, and I didn't have any money. I would climb up into the trees, too. I had a pet monkey. I made sure to keep him and the trees clean, though. Even as an island boy I had standards."

"Oh my god, Levi, really?" He flung himself up and wrapped his arms around me, and I sat stiffly before relaxing into his embrace. "That is literally the cutest thing I have ever heard since you talked about winning fencing tournaments when you were six!"

"No it's not- it was silly. And as I grew older I realized that, but I still felt safest in the greenhouse, like nobody could hurt me or force me to... Represent my parents." Eren's grip around my neck loosened, and he sat back on his knees as I continued. It had been hard at first to confess to him the reasons I ate in the greenhouse, but now it just kept coming, the story spilling from my lips without much pause. "When I got really mad at the... World my family had built up around them, I could stay in the greenhouse for days. I think the longest I stayed there was two weeks, though the longest I spent there without any human interaction was only a few days. Lived off of whatever fruit grew there and messed with the watering system to get my water."

"I can't believe your parents let you do that! And jeez, the way you talk about them they controlled the entire world... But seriously, I just can't imagine you drinking plant water, let alone climbing trees! Oh, come on, can we climb one now?" I drew back, horrified, and Eren laughed. "Please? You have that one really big tree near the back-"

"No. It's stupid, and dirty, and unnecessary." Eren whined up at me, hands on my knees, and I averted my eyes so that I didn't have to meet his gaze. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, trying desperately trying to ignore the boy who was now stretching upward to place pleading kisses on my neck. I tried to swat him away, but the second I removed my hands from my face he captured my lips with his before pulling away to look up at me imploringly. "Eren you shitty little brat, why can't I resist you?"

"Because you love me with all your heart." I froze, but Eren didn't seem to notice. "Come on! Let's go climb a tree!"

He stood up and pulled me out of my chair, running through the greenhouse, then running back to get me. I followed reluctantly, unsure I wanted to relive that part of my life, especially when it required climbing trees. When we reached the largest, oldest tree in the greenhouse, Eren wasted no time in circling the tree before scrambling up the first couple branches, giggling with excitement and gasping when he almost fell in his haste. 

I peered up into the branches when he had disappeared into the leaves, hesitant to follow. I yelped when I felt a tap on my back, and turned to see Eren hanging upside down from a branch behind me, his eyes shut tight with joy and one hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter. I shoved at him, and when he let out a yelp of his own I felt a small smile flit over my features. I let the smile take hold of me for a moment more, watching Eren try to regain his balance, then stepped forward to connect our lips. Eren let out a sound of surprise, muffled by my own mouth, and then I stepped back and smiled at him again.

"Jesus, you surprised me! I was just trying to get you to jump, you didn't have to go all Spider-Man romance on me." I raised an eyebrow, and he slapped a hand to his forehead. "Right. Well, we can watch Spider-Man next. Come on up, Levi!"

"Tch." I watched as he disappeared among the branches again, then sighed and stepped closer to the trunk and examined the lower branches. It had been ages since I last did this... I reached out to grab one of the lowest branches, grimacing at the rough feeling of bark and knowing my hands were dirty already. Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself up into the lower branches and looked around trying to locate Eren. He was grinning at me a few branches above me, and I gave a small half-smile in return.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd actually do it. Yay! Levi's climbing a tree!" His grin widened for a moment before he turned to climb higher, and I sighed before following. When I next looked up at the stupid brat that dragged me up here, he was nearing the top, and I let out a cry of warning.

"Idiot! Come down before the branches snap and you fall!" He let out a groan that faded into an exasperated sigh, but he began to lower himself until he had settled down next to me on the large branch I was sitting on. He pecked me on the cheek before pulling out his phone and snapping a picture before I could protest.

"I want proof later that I got you to climb a tree. No one's gonna believe me otherwise." I scowled and reached for his phone to delete the offending picture, but he simply giggled and put his phone away out of my reach.

"Brat, don't you dare show that to the rest of the staff!" Eren's giggle turned into an uncontrollable laugh, and I reached out a hand to steady him.

"Sorry, Levi! There's no way I'm keeping this one to myself though- gotta let me brag sometimes!" I glared at him, but there was no real anger behind my gaze. I opened my mouth to call him a shitty brat, but at that moment I felt a buzzing in my pocket and reached to fetch my phone, frowning. When I saw the caller ID, though, my frown dissipated into shock. "Who is it?"

"It's... But she hasn't called since..." I frowned again, glancing at Eren, and he nodded for me to take the call. I did so, glaring at a leaf in front of me in place of the person on the other side of the phone. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I'm coming to visit." I remained silent, waiting for her to justify the visit. "I need to talk to you. What's your address?"

"Are you shitting me right now? Do you think I care what you have to say?" I glanced back over at Eren, then switched languages so he couldn't listen in. "I hate being a prince, but no matter what I do no one cares what I want. It's always 'for the people' or 'for your country', but I don't give a damn about either. I'm not in line for the throne, why does it matter what I do in life?"

"That's why I need to talk to you. Something came up. You're the new heir to the throne." I was speechless, any snarky comeback I had waiting gone. "Now, what's your address?"

"If I tell you this, there's something I need you to do for me. There's someone who's working for me right now, and he doesn't know my heritage. Don't tell him, and don't me him know you're a princess. Don't talk about anything related to the throne in English." She seemed hesitant at first, but obviously what she had to talk to me about she seemed more important than making sure my employees new I was a prince. I told Mikasa my address after that, then hung up. When I looked back at Eren, he looked confused, especially since he was able to pick out our address but nothing else.

"What was that?" I grimaced, then looked down at my dangling feet.

"Mikasa's coming to visit." Eren's entire face lit up, grinning ear to ear. "Oi, brat, what're you so psyched about?"

"I get to meet your sister! Duh!" He cackled fiendishly, and I scowled. "Oh, I can't wait! And I'm going to become best friends with her, so then you'll be forced to hang out with her, and then you'll make up and become close siblings, and I will have saved the day!"

"First off, no. Second, there's nothing for us to make up. There was no big fight, we just never got along. She can be a bit... Possessive, for one."

"Sounds like someone else I know." I scowled at him, and he laughed. "Well, when is she coming? You should have Connie and Sasha prepare a welcome feast!"

"A week from now. And don't worry, there'll be a feast. More so to show off, though." Eren cuffed me over the head, and I chuckled. "Come on, brat. Let's get down from here."

I climbed down first, brushing myself off as I waited for Eren to follow. When he got down, we headed back to our room, where I took a shower and made him take one too, before I settled down on the bed and Eren brought out his box of movies. When he had talked about having an 'amazing movie collection', I had imagined twenty or so decent movies, but he must have had over fifty- not counting ones that came as extra disks or as a set like his Studio Ghibli films. 

When I had raised an eyebrow the first time I had seen the assortment of movies, he had shrugged and simply said that he had spent most of his spare money on movies, but I didn't really care. I was just glad he had them, and promised that we could add to the collection as he wanted to. Now he was digging through the box, brow furrowed, as he tried to find the first Spider-Man movie he had promised to show me an hour before. The third movie and the first Amazing Spider-Man lay on the bed from when Eren had picked them up, excited to find what he was looking for before realizing they weren't what he though they were and tossing them away. He finally let out a victory cry and came out with the first Spider-Man movie, grinning at me.

"Found it! Had to be the last Spider-Man I pulled out..." I cocked my head, glancing at the titles on the bed.

"You have the first and third and a remake but you don't have the second?" Eren bunched up his nose before setting the other Spider-Man movies on his bedside table in case we (well, me, mostly) wanted to watch them after the first one and getting up to put the first one in the DVD player I had bought for the flatscreen TV in our room.

"The second one sucks. I wouldn't waste my time watching it, if I were you." I shrugged and sat back as Eren hopped back onto the bed and edged closer to me, then rolled my eyes before pulling him towards me the rest of the way and curling up in his side as he hummed happily and got the movie started. When it got to scene Eren had referenced earlier, I snorted and rolled my eyes. "What?"

"He didn't flip out and almost fall." Eren protested about how the actor at least had a warning, but I hushed him and he sighed before relaxing back into me, becoming lost in the movie once more. There was a warning voice in the back of my mind, trying to tell me to call Mikasa back and tell her to stay away, but I told it to shut the fuck up and go away. Curiosity killed the cat, I suppose.


	13. Skating on thin Ice

Eren's POV

"There is no way I am ever putting my feet in those. Do you know how filthy that is? And it smells!" I rolled my eyes as Levi turned up his nose at the roller skates, though secretly I agreed that the rental skates were pretty gross.

"I don't disagree with you, but if this is what you got than this is what you got. And I'm not letting you back out now, this place was too far away for me to want to come back anytime soon." As I finished lacing up my own skates, Levi continued to stare distastefully at his own pair, until I sighed and snuck up behind him to snake my arms around his waist and whine into is ear. "Levi, please? You can't not go skating, and this is the only place in the area to do it! Just put the shoes on, and when we get home you can trash your socks or scrub your feet or whatever else you want to do. Okay?"

"Tch." Levi stared a moment more before I pulled away from him, grinning to myself as I felt him try to follow my movements so he wasn't separated from me. He stared at the skates for one last moment before scrunching up his nose and closing his eyes to stuff his feet into them, opening them only to lace them up. Then he stood up, a bit wobbly, and I grinned as I remembered that since he hadn't been skating before I'd have to teach him. I began to hold out an arm for Levi to steady himself with, but before I could offer it he clutched onto my shoulder as if his life depended on it and began prodding me along.

I helped him make his way to the wooden rink, vaguely noting that it was playing terrible music but it wasn't so loud that you had to pay attention to it. I had wanted to take Levi ice skating, but in the middle of summer there wasn't an ice rink to go to. Luckily, I found this place, which looking around is actually pretty fair quality and isn't as filthy as some other roller rinks I'd been to. As soon as we entered the rink, Levi switched to holding onto the railing provided since it was obviously more steady than a moving target, though it wasn't hard to figure out that it was also because he could reach it easier. 

Once Levi had let go of me completely, I grinned and skated away backwards, making eye contact with Levi to make sure he was watching before turning and jumping into the air to do a twirl before landing and spinning on the ground. I finished making my way around the rink after that, every once in a while pulling some trick out of my memory to show off, and when I made it back to Levi he was glaring at me. I laughed, and took his free hand to help him along.

"Come on, you're never going to get anywhere if you his keep clutching at the railing like that!" Levi took a few unsteady steps, and then I shook my head and took his other hand from the railing as well and began skating backwards again, pulling him along. I grinned at his terrified expression, speeding up slightly. "I can't see where the heck I'm going, so you're going to have to help me."

"Shitty brat, just skate like everyone else then!" I laughed but kept pulling him along, and as he got used to it he began to take small steps of his own. Eventually, I let go and skated a ways off, watching as he panicked again and flailed his arms about trying to get his balance back. After he was fairly steady, he scowled at me and tried to speed up to reach me, ending up falling and landing his butt on the ground. 

I skated back to help him up, grinning at him when he kept his grip on my hands extra tight to stop me from going anywhere, but I simply kissed his cheek and slipped my hands from his hold while he was distracted. The process repeated itself a few times until Levi was able to speed up to catch up to me without falling, and at the realization that he could skate now his face lit up and he shot me a small, but very triumphant, smile. I clapped my hands before taking one of his, letting him be nearest the railing in case he needed it, and we skated for a bit more like that. Now that Levi wasn't as concentrated on his balance, conversation soon followed.

"How'd you get so fucking good at this?" I laughed and grinned smugly at him, and he watched warily as my grin turned just a bit evil.

"You should see me on ice. I used to go ice skating a ton, and roller skating is similar enough that even though I only went once or twice I can still do pretty well." Levi scrunched up his face in annoyance that what I had been showing off with wasn't even skills from this type of skating, and I laughed again. Abruptly his expression shifted into confusion and then extreme annoyance and unhappiness as something caught his attention, and I looked around for what it might be. Not finding anything, I turned back to Levi and raised an eyebrow, and he scowled.

"This song. What is it even saying?" I listened for a moment, identifying the song, and upon recognizing it as Royals I grimaced.

"Ack, I hate this song. It's called 'Royals' and its basically just saying that movies always give people true love and a happily ever after and how that never really happens in real life. Like, no one actually bumps into a prince and gallops off into the sunset and becomes part of the royal family them self-"

"Lies." I frowned at Levi, but he was watching the floor. "It's not true. Marrying into a royal family isn't impossible."

"Well, I guess so, but don't you have to be at least high in the noble court or system or whatever? And usually it's just princes marrying princesses and vis versa." Levi's frown deepened, and I felt myself growing more confused at the feeling we weren't talking about the song anymore.

"That's not always the case. There are always exceptions. I know of one prince that... He fell in love with one of his maids." I examined his expression, but it was unreadable.

"Hm. Which prince? I mean, I don't stay up-to-date on the names of princes around the world, but now I'm curious since you know." Levi's expression morphed into one of pain, and I was under the distinct impression he was going through a very heated debate with himself at that moment.

"...The Ackerman prince. I forget his first name." I squinted at the shorter man, still a bit confused at what had just happened, but after a moment I shrugged and let it go.

"Ehh, I've never heard of him before. Oh, we're coming up to the food court, want anything? I'm getting pretty thirsty..." Levi shook his head, and after making sure he'd be fine on his own I broke off and entered the carpeted area, wincing in sympathy for whoever had to clean food off the carpet. There was a water fountain in a corner by the bathrooms, so I went over to that to get a drink. When I turned around and stood up, I was surprised to see that Levi had entered the food court area as well and was making his way towards me. I waved to him, and his frown lifted for a moment, but when I motioned for us to sit down at a nearby table he shook his head.

"Eren, I need to tell you something. I shouldn't have kept this from you this long, no, I shouldn't have ever lied to you about this." I felt my brow furrow, and I reached out to take Levi's hand, but he pulled back.

"Levi? What are you talking about? Is something wrong?" Levi rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, nodding.

"Yes, goddamn it, something is wrong. I'm so sorry, Eren, I never thought that we'd end up like... This... So I never said anything, and I'm so fucking sorry don't hate me, oh god, please don't hate whatever you do don't hate me Eren..." He removed his hands from his face, and to my surprise he looked both terrified and devastated. I made another attempt to take his hand, trying to comfort him, and again he drew back. 

"Levi... What's going on? Why... How could I ever hate you?" Levi opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. I moved to embrace him, my only goal to try to comfort him until he let me, and to my surprise he didn't pull away this time but instead collapsed in my arms. I looked around, frowning, and pulled Levi up onto his own two feet, though I didn't let go of him. "Let's get you home, alright?"

He nodded numbly, looking almost disappointed in himself before he shut his eyes to stop me from looking into them. I sighed before steering him towards the skate return before leading him to where Marco was waiting for us in the car, reading. When he saw Levi's expression, he turned and looked at me questioningly, but I was just as confused as I was. 

"What happened in there?" I shrugged, watching as Levi slid into the back seat before doing the same myself, turning to Marco for help.

"I have no idea, but he's not responding to me. He said something about having to tell me something and wishing I wouldn't hate him for it, but after that he went mute. What am I supposed to do?" Marco looked shocked for a moment, then turned to Levi. Glancing at me, he asked Levi something in what I recognized as the language Levi had spoken when he had been on the phone with Mikasa the other day. I let out an exasperated sigh- did everyone but me know this stupid language? In any case, whatever Marco said seemed to shake Levi from his daze and he reached for my hand blindly before clinging to it desperately as he nodded and rubbed at his face. Marco asked another question, and this time Levi answered back in the same language. Marco looked at me, then at Levi, then back to me as he asked another question in which I recognized my name. This time Levi shook his head wildly; whatever Marco had said was definitely not what he wanted. Marco said a few more words and bowed his head before turning back to me as Levi slumped against me, seemingly worn out from whatever had just occurred.

"He's fine. Something about that place triggered a memory from when he lived with his parents, and he wasn't able to separate that memory from what was really going on." He looked back at Levi, who seemed to give instructions to Marco in the other language. "He says, before he left for the US, there was a year long period that he kept his actions secret from his family so that they couldn't stop him. The memory that he was confusing with the present was of when he told his parents."

"Is he alright?" Marco nodded and I studied Levi's expression as he clung to me, surprised when I found it close to tears. I felt something in me break, and I turned slightly so that I could kiss first one cheek, then the other. When I pulled back, he looked up at me as if begging for forgiveness, and I took him in my arms and rocked back and forth slightly. 

Something was bugging me about the explanation Marco gave, something my father had once said about how memories interact with each other. I mentally face palmed for not paying greater attention to what he had said and instead trying to block memories of him, knowing that right now I could use his knowledge of how the body and brain functioned. But all I could do now was hold Levi, since no memory came forth to explain what was nagging at me, so that's what I did. I clutched him tighter to me as I felt his body shake slightly, letting him bury his face into the crook of my neck as he tried to hide his tears. Even if I didn't understand what had just happened, I did understand that something did happen, and that all Levi wanted right now was to block out the world. I raised a hand and began running it through his hair, whispering comforting things into his ear about how everything was alright, everything would be alright, he didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm sorry... Eren I'm so... So sorry..." I felt tears of my own well up at his broken voice, wanting nothing more than to see Levi happy again. We sat together like that for two minutes, three minutes, five minutes, until Levi's tears had stopped flowing and I wiped the remaining ones away before leaning our foreheads together and asking if he was alright. He shook his head weakly, and I hugged him once more before telling him that he would be alright, and he sniffled and let me push him back so that Marco could drive us home.

~~~

Marco's POV

After we arrived back home, Eren took His Highness up to their room and I went down to the kitchen. Luckily, everyone was in there eating dinner already so I didn't have to find anyone, and I noticed three plates set off to the side for me, His Highness, and Eren. When they saw me come in and noticed my expression, they stopped eating and waited for an explanation. I took my plate and sat down next to Jean, who was eyeing me with concern, and began eating. When no one bought that everything was alright, I sighed and sat back, letting my fork clatter against the plate.

"His Highness tried to tell Eren that he was a prince today." Shouts of surprise echoed around the kitchen, then fell silent when they caught sight of my expression and realized that it obviously hadn't gone well. "He couldn't do it. Apparently he tried, but when he realized that Eren might hate him for it he gave up and begged for forgiveness and was unable to confess."

"How'd Eren react?" I turned to Armin, shrugging, and noticed that his expression along with everyone else's mirrored my own: worried, concerned, slightly anxious.

"He just wanted to know if His Highness was alright. I asked if he wanted me to tell Eren for him, but he refused. He gave me a story to feed Eren about memories being triggered and confused, which I'm not sure if Eren bought completely but did seem to be enough to make him less worried about what was happening and more focused on making sure His Highness was alright." There were a few nods around the room, murmurs as people exchanged theories on what was going to happen next.

"What's going to happen when Eren does find out, you think? The longer His Highness keeps it a secret, the more likely it is for Eren to react negatively..." I nodded at Historia, then looked at my plate.

"Well, I think it's going to get very hard for His Highness in a few days. On the drive there, I heard Eren mention that His Highness's sister is coming to visit this Monday." Those who were looking down shot their heads up to look at me, and I nodded again.

"Her Highness never visits! What changed? Do you think something's happened to His Highness's parents?" I shrugged, and Jean frowned at me. "Sometimes I wonder what His Highness tells Eren when his family comes up. Like, how did he even know that His Highness had a sister?"

"No clue. I guess he's coming up with modifications of his life story to tell Eren." I shrugged, then frowned. "But I have a very, very bad feeling about this."


	14. Fluff.

Levi's POV

I couldn't do it. I tried, really, I did. But... What if he hated me for not telling him? What if he felt betrayed? What if he cried? Oh, god, I couldn't take it if I had to watch him cry. After our day at the roller rink, I flinched every time he approached me, and upon realizing I had flinched I would apologize. At first, Eren didn't really mind. He just made sure I was doing alright, then would let it go. But on the second day, I could tell it hurt him. 

This afternoon, when he entered the greenhouse with our lunches, he stopped before he reached me, eyeing me warily. I raised an eyebrow, trying to hide the fact that my heart had sputtered and nearly stopped when he entered the room, trying to hide the fact that I was convinced that any moment now my secret would grow too heavy and explode. He sighed and set the food down, then came around to where I was sitting instead of joining me at the table. He reached out and ran his fingers through my hair as he knelt down to look up at me, leaving his hand on my cheek. I leaned into his touch, wondering if I tried again if I could tell him. I don't think I could...

"Levi, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself since... You know..." I squeezed my eyes shut, and Eren moved to take his hand away. I snapped my eyes open, putting a hand up to stop him from pulling away. "See? This is what I mean. Two days ago you would've let me pull away. What's worrying you? Is it that Mikasa's coming?"

"I..." How do I respond? He gave me an out, he's letting me get away from this. I took a deep breath, silently thanking Eren for being, well, Eren. "Yes. I'm scared of what she has to say. She said that something's come up, and that I'm now in line to inherit our parents' business instead of her."

"Oh... Does that mean you're going to have to move away?" I started to shake my head, but then stopped. I didn't know. I didn't want to, but...

"It depends. I'm going to have to decide that once she's told me the details." Eren's face fell, and I smiled sadly at him. "Brat. You think I'd leave you behind?"

"Oh... Well, I..." He seemed to stumble for an excuse before giving up, his cheeks reddening. "So, if you do have to leave..."

"I promise to take you with me. Might take the whole fucking staff, just to piss everyone off. But no matter what happens, we'll stick together." Eren looked up at me, somehow sensing that it was a question as much as an answer. He grinned and nodded, and I felt some of the tightness that had been lodged in my chest slip away. Eren leaned up slightly to give me a short kiss before standing up and sitting down across from me to start eating, and I picked at my own food, mulling over what Eren had just said. "Eren... Thank you. You always take the time to care about how I'm doing, and-"

"It's alright, Levi. I know. You don't have to say anything. I lo-" I felt my eyes widen, my lips curve upward, but Eren hesitated and looked back at his food. "You mean so much to me, so of course I'm going to care. It's nothing special. Now come on, your sister is coming tomorrow, and I just know you're dying to go yell at everyone at how awful their cleaning is."

"Yeah. Yeah, I am looking forward to that." We finished our lunch with light conversation, and I felt my spirits lift a bit higher. Shitty brat was going to explode my heart.

~~~

I woke up to a weight on my stomach, and I groaned as I opened my eyes halfway to peer up at Eren. I closed my eyes again, wondering why the fuck he was sitting on me since he hadn't dropped any hints he wanted sex, and he poked my cheek.

"I saw that! You're awake, and you have to get up now!" I sighed and reached up, grabbing him and rolling over so that we were both lying on our sides, Eren giggling as I planted kiss after kiss after kiss across his face. "L-Levi! St-stop!"

"No. You woke me up, now I get to do what I want with you." Eren turned bright red, and I rolled my eyes. "Oh, no, your mind's not stuck in the gutter."

"Hey!" I chuckled and tightened my grip on his waist, and he squirmed as I squeezed him too tight. I loosened my grip slightly, and he stilled, then sighed happily. "You really are so affectionate when you first wake up."

"Is that why you woke me up? To tell me that?" Eren laughed, and I rolled my eyes. "Fine, then. Be an evasive brat like that."

"No, no, I'm just surprised it wasn't the first thing you thought of when you woke up." I frowned, trying to remember, but was quickly distracted when Eren shifted his head slightly and light glanced off his eyes causing the color to turn more blue than green. "Levi, you're staring."

"What? Oh. What am I supposed to remember?" I was still watching his eyes, which had regained their green quality and were Caribbean once more. Eren frowned when he realized what had distracted me and shut his eyes, and I blinked, taking in his expression of annoyance. "Not my fault your eyes are so fucking gorgeous."

"Don't say that kind of thing!" I smirked as he reopened his eyes to glare at me before sighing, and I kissed his nose. He scowled at me, but I simply cuddled in closer as he tried to think of a way to get back at me. He seemed to remember something, and I sighed and tried to hide my face in the crook of his neck when his expression turned smug. "Mikasa. That's what I thought you would've remembered."

"What? Oh. Shit." I scowled as my morning was ruined, trying to pull away from Eren. He let out a yelp and grabbed onto me, not letting me go. "Brat. You shouldn't have screwed up my morning like that. I was in such a good mood, too."

"Sorry! Don't go yet, please? Five more minutes." I let out an exasperated sigh, but lowered myself back into Eren's arms. He hummed happily and nuzzled at my hair, inhaling deeply. "Mm. I'm so lucky."

"No. Stop it. I'm a grouchy old man with serious issues. You shouldn't feel lucky, you should feel disgusted." Eren shook his head wildly, but my frown remained stubborn as he pulled himself back just enough to meet my eyes.

"As if. And you're not grumpy, well, not on the inside. You put on this act of Mr. Bad Guy, but on the inside you're a huge softy. And not just with people you know, either. You're more open with me about it, but I saw you with that little girl last week- at Universal, when you were waiting for me to come out of the bathroom." My eyes widened in horror when I recalled the event and at the new knowledge that Eren had witnessed that, but he seemed intent on making me relive it. "She was crying because her ice cream melted so it all fell off the cone, but her mom had used up all her cash and wouldn't get her a new one. When I saw you eyeing the scene, I hid in a group of teenagers hanging out there so I could watch what you did. I was curious, don't hate me for it."

"Tch. You shouldn't spy on people." Eren laughed, a sound I felt as much as I heard, but when he seemed about ready to continue I let him. If I didn't, he'd come up with some other way to make sure I remembered the event, like sending a mass text with the entire story to me and everyone on the staff.

"So you went right up to the stand where I presume she got her ice cream and ordered one for her, and when you knelt down to give it to her, her entire face lit up. She hugged you, too, though you seemed a bit wary of getting ice cream all over yourself. Her mom eyed you kind of funny, like deciding whether you were a hero or someone trying to poison her daughter, but man, you made that little 5-year-old's day!" I scowled, not wanting to meet Eren's eyes. "I bet you've been the hero of a million people's live, swooping in to grab run-away balloons and sub in for the sick librarian during story time. You're my prince in shining armor, a handsome face with a large enough heart for an entire kingdom."

"As if. You're the one people actually like." My heart was pounding, whether from fear that he had called me a prince or embarrassment at the memory or happiness that he thought so highly of me I didn't know.

"Hmm. So then maybe it's not that you try to hide it, it's that you don't realize it yourself." I sighed and tried to hide my face in his neck again, but he pulled my face away so that his eyes met mine. "You're a good guy, Levi. An amazing one. And I'm going to do everything in my power to prove it to you. Like, when was it you were emailing your father's advisor or whatever? You didn't have to. You make it sound like you want to cut off all ties to your family, but then you take the time to explain to them why you left or invite your sister over, and it's hard to believe that's what you really want. You probably just hate your family's business, not your family."

"What..." I squeezed Eren tight, leaning my head against his chest. "What on Earth did I ever do to deserve you?"

"You bought a little girl an ice cream cone." I chuckled, and Eren kissed the crown of my head before grinning at me and letting me get up. "Do I need to dress in-"

"No. Stay in casual clothes." Since we got back from Florida, I've insisted that he doesn't need to dress in what I consider servant's clothing. He just thinks of them as work clothes, but... Even if he won't just live with me without working for me, I can at least make it feel more natural. He really doesn't do much work anyway, just a few odd tasks here and there or filling in for anyone if they have something to do or are sick.

"Are you sure? Mikasa-"

"No. Your ass always looks nicer in casual clothes." Eren blushed and huffed out a breath through his nose, but didn't say anything in reply. Once we were both showered and dressed, we went downstairs to get breakfast. I trailed after Eren as he went into the kitchen to fetch our breakfasts, and once the staff noticed my presence they all quieted and stiffened.

"Mikasa's coming today- hope you're all ready for that. She should be here by 4:00, so I want a feast. You know the drill. Guest gets best of." There were nods around the room and then Eren was pushing me out the door with a plate in each hand, muttering a thanks when I took one of the plates from him to help. I examined the halls as we made our way to the greenhouse, making sure everything was perfectly clean, until Eren told me to just do my inspections after we'd eaten. Just as we entered the greenhouse, Eren's stomach grumbled, and after taking a moment to appreciate the cuteness if his embarrassed expression I chuckled and rolled my eyes before telling him to hurry up and eat something.

Conversation was upheld mostly by Eren as he tried to distract me from the arrival of my sister, but as he was telling me a story about the things he used to do when he lived with his mother in the US he abruptly stopped, watching me. I raised an eyebrow, and he frowned, then looked at his cup with determination. He picked it up with both hands, then awkwardly tried to shift them so that one hand held the rim and the other was able to be pulled away. I watched with amusement as he tried to lift the glass to his mouth, leaning his head back slightly as he also tilted the glass, unable to take a drink easily. 

With a final shift of his hand, he tried to take a sip, but ended up spilling water all over himself. I burst into laughter for the first time in forever, there only have being one other time after the first day I met Eren I laughed without abondon. His expression of surprise and disappointment at the fate of his water shifted into one of happiness as he grinned sheepishly at me, obviously enjoying the fact that I was laughing again. Once my laughter had died, Eren focused his attention on trying to mop up the water he spilled, and I watched with the faintest of smiles curving my lips upwards.

"Brat. I can't believe you even tried to do that." Eren stuck his tongue out at me, and I made a show of picking my cup up and taking a long drink in the very way he had failed.

"I just wanted to see what it was like! It's so much harder to drink like that, why do you do it?" I thought a moment, trying to recall exactly why I always held my cups like that.

"Hm. When I was small, I tried to pick up a teacup by its handle and it snapped off, the cup shattering. I was upset because it was one of the first things I bought myself, so to make sure it never happened I never used the handle again. It became habit, and now I do it all the time because of that and the fact that it leaves less fingerprints." Eren stared wide-eyed at me for a moment, then covered his face with both hands. "Oi, what're you doing?"

"I just can't right now. Give me a second as I try to get over how cute that was." I frowned, and Eren must have sensed my confusion since he lowered his hands to give me an explanation. "You keep telling me these things about when you were younger, and it only makes me want to see pictures of you when you were smaller that much more-"

"Shitty brat, you said smaller because you think I'm short, didn't you?" Eren grinned, and I glared at him.

"Levi, I don't think you're that short. You're just... Fun-sized. But seriously, cute little baby Levi breaking his cup and changing his entire manner of drinking to prevent it from happening again? That's adorable!" I scowled at him and stabbed at my food with my fork, but my negative aura had no effect of Eren, who was cupping his face with both hands and squealing as he looked at me.

"Stop it, you're being creepy." Eren laughed, and I humphed and turned my head away from him. After his laughter had faded we continued our meal, Eren grinning at me every time I picked up my cup. Eren finished before I did and got out his phone while he waited, still talking to me but obviously more focused on whatever he was doing. When I raised an eyebrow and gestured to his phone, he shrugged and turned the screen more towards him. I narrowed my eyes, but said nothing. 

However, when he went to return our dishes and left his phone on the table, I wasted no time in snatching it up and unlocking it. I had long since cracked his passcode, though whenever I thought of how I figured it out I felt heat rise to my cheeks. 5-3-8-4, the numbers that held the letters L-E-V-I (5 holding j,k,l while 3 held d,e,f and so on). I froze when the phone unlocked and revealed what Eren had been preoccupied with- he had been going through his photos. I was hesitant to look through them myself, but after a moment's pause I thought to hell with it and started with the most recent.

It was of me, taken last night after I had fallen asleep while he was helping Arlert. I felt color rise to my cheeks and quickly slid my finger to reveal another picture of me, this one the photo he had taken when he had gotten me into a tree. I was shocked by the look on my face, slightly annoyed but otherwise happy. Picture after picture, more than I could've imagined he could've taken of me revealed themselves, but I couldn't bring myself to delete any of them. Some of the pictures were ones he had gotten others to take for him so that we were both in it, him grinning happily and the corners of my lips tugged up in a small smile as he held my hand or wrapped his arms around my waist or leaned his head against mine. These ones I sent to myself- no way was I not keeping those. 

But the pictures that always shocked me the most were the ones were it was only me, smiling in the direction I assumed Eren was. I only knew of the existence of one of these photos, so upon seeing five others I was unsure how to react. I knew that I had been happier with Eren, but I hadn't realized he had affected me so much that smiling- even small smiles counted- had become less of a rare occasion for me. I was hesitating over a picture that portrayed me laughing, not even just chuckling but full out laughing with my face slightly flushed from the action, when I felt familiar arms wrap around me as Eren peered over my shoulder at his phone.

"Oh, yeah, I was lucky to get that one." I cleared my throat, shutting off his phone and setting it on the table before looking at where his hands rested on my stomach as I felt shame take hold of me. "Hm? Oh, don't feel bad. I'm not mad at you, though I wish you told me you knew my passcode. That's a bit..."

"Levi, huh?" Now it was his turn to flush, and he nodded guiltily. "How long?"

"Are you asking me how long I've been sneaking pictures of you or how long that's been my passcode?" My brow furrowed, and Eren cocked his head, doing his best to meet my eyes though he was holding me from behind. "Or, how long I liked you?"

"...That one." I closed my eyes as I felt his chest shake as he chuckled, then opened them when he let me go to turn me around so he could see my expression better.

"Well, let's see here... I'm not sure when exactly, but it was maybe a week after the time you came down to the kitchen to eat with us once it started raining. Do you remember that? I've always wondered about that, since we've ate in here when it was raining multiple times." I nodded- I remembered that evening quite well. I looked at the ground before looking back up at Eren, and he looked at me questioningly when he saw my expression.

"I didn't really... Care about the rain. I was upset because you didn't bring me my dinner, so I told Kirschtein that I didn't want anyone else to bring my meals but you. He looked annoyed but nodded and left, and I suddenly realized that I cared a whole lot more about seeing you and talking to you than I should've, but I pushed the feeling away. When it started raining, I used it as an excuse to go down to the kitchen and eat the rest of my meal with you." Eren was blushing as well now, but he was smiling. "Though... I didn't really understand why I cared so much until you called me a friend when we were in Florida..."

"Oh... I'm torn between teasing you about being so oblivious to your own feelings and trying to comfort you since you realized your feelings only after you felt like you had been friend-zoned..." I frowned, nodding slightly.

"It... It hurt. Can we do the comfort thing instead of the teasing?" Eren laughed but hugged me nonetheless, loosening his grip on me only to pull back enough to kiss me. I hummed happily into his mouth, and when he pulled away were both smiling.

"Successfully comforted?" I nodded solemnly, and Eren burst out into laughter before squeezing me tight one last time and stepping back to put his phone away. As we walked towards my study, I wondered vaguely if it was true that I hadn't realized I liked Eren until the night in Florida or if that night had simply been the one that marked the end of me pretending I didn't like him. Whatever the case, I was just glad to have Eren with me now, forever and always.


	15. Secrets

Levi's POV

When 4:00 rolled around, I went down to the grand entrance hall feeling my heart pound loudly against my chest, waiting and dreading what was about to happen. Eren had followed me downstairs and was trying to get me to calm down, holding me tight when I started pacing and not letting me go in case I started again.

"Really, Levi, it's just your sister. You lived together for years before you moved away, so 24 hours should be fine!" I sighed and sunk into his embrace, trying to convince myself of that very same thing. "And how do you know the news she carries will be bad? It could be great news, or maybe your family just decided you were better than your sister and wanted you to have the company, simple as that."

"Tch. I don't want the fucking company." Eren sighed and lifted my head up to look at him, and I remained silent at the look on his face.

"What's so bad about it, really?" I let out a groan and shut my eyes tight, scowling when Eren giggled. "That bad, huh?"

"Yes that bad! I don't want to have that much depending on me. I could screw up a ton of people's lives! And the things people in that company demand, it's never ending: I have to have a perfect social image, I have to set an example, I have to spend my time doing boring ass stuff. It's more fun locking myself in our room with you and making you get out your movies." Eren rolled his eyes, grinning.

"You could do that there too. And can't you lead the company from here? Through email or Skype or something?" I shook my head, wishing that that was the case. "Hm. Well, have hope, you may not need to take control of the company anyway."

"I hope so. I really fucking hope so." Eren squeezed me tight, and then the doorbell rang. I stiffened, and Eren let me go to push me over to the door. He stood slightly to my side and behind me as I opened the door, immediately locking eyes with my sister. After a moment's pause, she pushed past me into the entrance hall, freezing when she saw Eren. Eren simply grinned and went up to her, holding out his hand.

"Hi! I'm Eren Yeager, Levi's perso-"

"Boyfriend. He's my boyfriend. May as well clear that up now." Mikasa looked between the two of us, shocked, then turned to me.

"Is this the one that you haven't told about your heritage?" I nodded, and she looked back at Eren. "It's stupid to not tell him when you've taken such a liking to him. Is he really your boyfriend? I wasn't aware you had the ability to care for others."

"Fuck off." Her expression remained blank as she took in my scowl, then turned thoughtful as she turned back to Eren and eyed the hand he still held out. 

"Mikasa." She took the hand hesitantly, and Eren grinned widely. "Does Levi actually care for you?"

"What kind of question is that? He said he was my boyfriend, not fuckbuddy." I smirked and rolled my eyes, though I was relieved that the question hadn't shaken him. Instead, he simply kept his carefree expression and draped his arms across my shoulders, bringing me closer to him. "See? Look at that, he's blushing."

"Am not." Eren laughed, and Mikasa looked on, shocked. Eren leaned his head against mine, still watching Mikasa, and Mikasa looked back, her disbelief slowly fading into her usual blank expression.

"Hm. Which one of you guys is younger? Levi, you're older, right?" I nodded, and Eren hummed thoughtfully. "She must really look up to you. That thing she does- right there, see? You do the exact same thing when you're trying to hide your surprise. And it's not exactly something you inherit, ways to try and hide your emotions."

"You..." I turned my head to look up at Eren, but he was still eyeing Mikasa. When he finally looked back at me, he looked entirely smug. "What are you trying to prove?"

"I was simply stating the facts as I saw them. Anyway, nice to meet you, Mikasa. Hope we can be friends." Mikasa stared blankly back at Eren, but it was obvious she was unsure how to respond. Eren just grinned at her, letting her know that a response wasn't necessary, and Mikasa turned her gaze downward just slightly to look at me.

"I like him." I snorted, reaching a hand up to touch one of his hands.

"You don't get to have him. This one's mine." She glared at me, and I glared back, until finally Eren cleared his throat to gain our attention.

"I'm going to take a guess by the way Levi just stiffened and reached up to take my hand that he was saying something possessive and embarrassing, so how about we move on, yes?" He squeezed me tight once more before stepping back, rolling his eyes when I frowned and took his hand. "Levi, stop trying to show off that you have a heart and go talk to your sister about whatever it is needs talking about. I'll go make some tea for you guys, alright? Mikasa, you care what kind?"

"No." Eren nodded and turned his gaze back to me.

"I'll just bring your usual then. Now go, and be nice!" He slipped his hand from my grasp and pushed me towards Mikasa, bouncing off to make some tea for us. Mikasa and I stared in the direction he vanished for a moment before we turned back to each other, and I was surprised at how amused Mikasa looked. I sighed and led her to my study, motioning for her to sit down as I did the same.

"What happened?" Mikasa's expression grew blank once more, and I prepared myself for the worst.

"Mother's dead. Father's dead too. They were murdered two weeks ago, but we didn't find Mother's will until last week. She left the kingdom to you." I stared, and she stared back. 

"Just... Just like that?" She nodded, and I sighed and dropped my head into my hands. "I don't want it. You can have it."

"I can't. The entire kingdom was alerted of the news, and now they won't accept me as their queen. I told everyone that you probably wouldn't want it anyway, and they said that if that was the case Pixis would be king." I groaned, not believing this was happening. Even I wasn't so cold-hearted as to leave the kingdom to to Pixis.

"By talking to the kingdom, you mean you talked to the court?" She nodded, and I sighed again. "If that fool took hold of the kingdom, the entire army would die in a month. He'd send everyone off to war with false hopes, and then the kingdom would fall to ruin."

"So will you come home and become King?" I opened my mouth to answer, but at that moment Eren walked in with tea for Mikasa and I, and upon seeing my expression his own expression turned to worry.

"Do you have to go back?" I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded, the action painful and as much for Mikasa as Eren. "Oh... When will you leave?"

"You have until the end of the week to return home, and then you'll lose the right." She looked at Eren, then switched back into English, much to my horror. "You have to tell him."

"Tell me what?" His expression portrayed that he was trying to keep his emotions in check, but I saw the worry in his eyes. He was scared of what I hadn't told him, but I just shook my head and tried to keep the secret, even if it was only for another day or two. Just so long that I could work up the courage to tell him myself... "Levi?"

"Levi's a prince. New heir to the throne. He has to come home now because our parents are dead." Something in me snapped, and I bolted upright, causing my chair to clatter to the ground in the process. It couldn't be her to say, it wasn't her secret to tell...

"Mikasa! I told you not to tell him! You fucking-"

"Levi?" I broke off immediately at the sound of Eren's voice, hurt and questioning. I looked at him, terrified, but quickly looked down in shame. There was betrayal in his eyes, but he seemed to be attempting a smile at the hopes that Mikasa was lying, that I hadn't spent day after day lying to him about who I was. "Is this... What's going on?"

"He's been lying to you from the beginning. He ran away because he didn't want to be a royal, but now he has no choice but to come back and serve as King." I turned on Mikasa, ready to yell at her, but Eren stopped me once more with the sound of his voice.

"Le-" he broke off, and I turned back to look at him, only to find that he was frantically searching my expression for any trace that it could be a joke, a lie. I let my face fall, and Eren looked at me with horror.

"...I'm sorry, Eren... I didn't want you to treat me like a prince, I just wanted to try being normal for once in my life, and I tried to tell you- at the roller rink! Remember? I tried to tell you I did, but I was worried you'd hate me or-"

"Your Highness." I felt my eyes widen in desperation and horror as Eren dropped down onto his knees, bowing his head. "I apologize for treating you with such little respect in my time serving you. But I think that maybe His Highness should understand if I cannot continue to stay."

"Eren, no-"

"Your Highness has been very kind to me. Thank you. But I fell in love with a man named Levi, and I cannot stay here if that man was a lie." I fell down onto my knees in front of Eren, my legs unable to support me anymore. I reached out to touch him, but he flinched away. "Please, Your Highness. Do not make this harder on me than it already is."

"Eren, please, I'm still Levi, it's still me, don't go! Ackerman, Ackerman is my last name! Please, Eren..." I saw him freeze when he remembered what I had said about the Ackerman prince at the roller rink, and I felt my heart shatter when a tear rolled down his cheek.

"If Your Highness really thought so highly of me, you should've trusted me. You should've told me from the beginning of whatever we had, when there was still a chance it wouldn't ruin things between us. Even then, the chance was slim. You never should've lied to me. I'm going to pack my things." He stood up and bowed, then left the room. I remained on the floor, silent tears rolling down my cheeks, before I turned to Mikasa.

"How could you? How dare you tell him? If I had told him myself-"

"It would've been the same. He's not upset that you didn't have the guts to tell him, he's upset that you lied to him from the beginning and still felt you had the right to start a relationship with him." I looked up at her, still furious, and she sighed and bowed her head. "As much as I like Eren, he couldn't have come with you. You need to marry and have children to continue the line. I simply cleared the way for you to do that."

"But... No..." My voice gave way as I lost the ability to form coherent sounds, and after shooting Mikasa one last betrayed and furious glare, I got up on shaky legs to chase after Eren.

~~~

Eren's POV

I made my way to His Highness's room quickly, head down and fighting tears. It had broke my heart to walk away, but I couldn't stay with him if he thought he could really lie through the entire relationship. When I reached his room, I was surprised that Armin was in that hallway, and I tried to hide before he saw me- too late.

"Eren? What's wrong?" I shuddered and tried to push last him into His Highness's room, but he wouldn't let me.

"Armin, I have to get in there. I need to leave as soon as I can, before I loose the will to do so." He looked shocked, then blocked me from the door with more resolve.

"What happened?" I shut my eyes tight, still trying to hold back tears. Armin reached out a hand to comfort me, but I pulled back.

"His Highness shouldn't have lied to me." Armin's eyes grew wide as I said it, and I knew then that I really had been the only one not to know the one largest thing about who Levi was. "Her Highness told me. 'Levi' never was a possibility for me, never was real. I have to leave, Armin. I have enough money saved up to make it on my own until I find a new job."

"Wait! I don't know what happened, but His Highness cares for you, Eren! His Highness is Levi! When he first met you, he decided not to tell you who he was because he wanted to have someone close to him who didn't treat him so formally." I shook my head, eyes still closed.

"He had so many opportunities to tell me before things became... Serious between us. But he didn't." Armin opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. "Armin, I've been sleeping with someone I thought I was in love with, and I just found out that they have to go home to become King. Do you have any idea how I feel right now? Betrayed, angry, sad. Part of me wants to stay here, that part of me wants to believe that His highness is Levi and that things could be normal. But I know that's not true. Things can never be as they have been, and I need to accept that and move on. Nice knowing you Armin. Say goodbye to the staff for me. And... Watch over His Highness for me. Make sure he moves on, too."

This time when I tried to push him out of the way, he let me, and I entered the room and got down my suitcase from His Highness's closet and began throwing my things in it. Anything His Highness had bought me was left behind, put into a pile on his bed. After a moments' hesitation, I left the large box of movies where it was in the corner of His Highness's closet. I don't know what made me want to give him that, but I couldn't bring myself to take it. I probably couldn't watch any of them without crying, anyway, wishing I was back here in his arms again. Dragging the suitcase behind me, I opened the door and immediately locked eyes with His Highness from where he was at the end of the hall coming towards me, and I froze. He sped up, almost running, tackling me and holding me tight. Finally the tears came, and I dully noted that His Highness was crying as well.

"Eren, Eren, don't leave me... Please... I love you, Eren, don't leave me..." I took a shuddering breath, wanting so badly to return the embrace, but instead carefully pushed him away. He fell to the floor, looking up at me imploringly, but I refused to meet his eyes as I bowed and left. I couldn't stay any longer.

"Then let me go. Goodbye, Your Highness." I made my way down the hall, trying to ignore the sounds of Armin trying and failing to comfort His Highness, and to my surprise Her Highness was waiting at the door for me. I sighed and bowed, not meeting her eyes. "Thank you, Your Highness, for telling me."

"Stand up straight, Eren Yeager." I did so, and she looked me over, taking in my tears and suitcase. Then she held out her hand, an imitation of me when I first met her. I smiled sadly at her, and shook her hand in farewell. "I can see why Levi cared for you. Thank you for understanding you cannot stay with him."

I nodded and released her hand, then left the mansion. I would walk as far as I had to to find a cab, and then I would go as far as I could away from this place. If I stayed anywhere near His Highness, I would be afraid I would come back.


	16. Good People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I reread that last chapter like five times and I've decided some things need to be cleared up. I got comments saying that you guys were disappointed in Eren and that the characters were acting OOC, and I'm sorry. I tried to smooth things over a bit in this chapter, but I still want to tell you guys a few things first:  
> First of all, I want you to place yourself in Eren's shoes. You recently got into a serious relationship with someone you've been living with for a few months, and you think things are going pretty smoothly. You're happy. There's an odd moment when your significant other breaks down over some sort of secret, but you let it go because you're more worried about their health, only to find out a week later that they had lied to cover it up. They had been lying to you from day one, and you had been sleeping with someone who wouldn't even tell you who they actually were. They were too cowardly to tell you themselves, and you find out through their sybling because she switches into english (another thing- why doesn't your significant other want you to understand them and their business? Why are they so against you knowing their language?) and when she spills the beans your significant other reacts violently and tells at her because thy didn't want you to know. Now tell me, would you have stayed with them? Or would you feel like the trust your relationship was built off of had been shattered? If you still disagree with Eren's actions, then I'm sorry. This story will be written how I want it to be, and no one is forcing you to read it.

Levi's POV

It's always so easy for others to say, 'if you really love someone, then let them go'. But here's the thing: if you really love someone, if you really feel like the one thing that would make you happy is to be by their side, then giving them up is resigning to sadness. If you really love someone, letting them to physically is so different from letting them go from your heart that I don't think it's possible to truly let someone you love go. Maybe if I tore my own heart out and shred it to pieces, maybe if I found another way to be happy... But I don't think there is another way for me. 

All my life I've felt as if I was missing something, like I was simply drifting along and carelessly letting myself grow old without living. When I met Eren, I was shocked that there was someone like him left in the world. Innocent, eternally happy, kind and silly all at once. He was always putting what I wanted before his own desires, and selfishly I locked parts of me away from him out of fear he wouldn't like those parts. And now here I am, out of tears to weep, and I've lost the one thing that made me feel alive in this world.

I haven't looked for him. What would I say if I found him? I've already told him I love him, begged him not to leave my side, but he pushed me away. I can't excuse what I've done, I know that, so I couldn't explain away why I never told my lover who I was. Lover. What a stupid description. People who love you don't leave you like that, don't reject you.

"I fell in love with a man named Levi, and I can not stay here if that man was a lie."

...Then, was it me? Was I the one not really in love? Maybe I just loved him as a brother, or as a best friend. I never had any of those things, so it was possible I confused my feelings and got carried away. Then not being lovers would be my fault, huh? Or...

I glanced over at my closet from where I lay on ou- ...my. My bed, feeling a pang in my heart at the sight of the worn box holding Eren's collection of movies. I hadn't watched any of them in the few days Eren had been gone, but the sight of them filled me with mixed emotions. Most of me couldn't bear the thought of watching them without Eren, couldn't imagine how I could ever think of the hours we spent curled up together without sinking further into depression. But then there was the small part of my heart that was still light, the last remaining happiness and hope that Eren brought me. That part of me wondered if he was asking me to move on, wondered if even as he was leaving he was thinking of the sleepless nights I would spend wishing for the warmth and comfort of his touch. 

Looking at the box, I realized I was being stupid. We had been lovers, we had both loved each other, I only felt sour about the title now because it made me sick to think Eren still loved me and had abandoned me anyway. I had spent hours laying in bed wondering about what Eren had said, what my asshole of a sister said. Eren had said that 'Levi' was a lie, that he had fallen in love with someone that wasn't real. I was 'Levi', wasn't I? It was my name, so didn't that make it me?

Or is 'Levi' more than just a name? 'Levi'... 'Levi' is a man who trusted Eren, who confided in him and looked to him for comfort. 'Levi' is the man who ate his meals his meals with Eren in the greenhouse, 'Levi' is the jungle boy who had a pet monkey and the man who climbed a tree how many years later because Eren asked him to. Was that Prince Levi Ackerman, heir to the throne? 

Prince Levi Ackerman is a man who has no emotions, who is skilled in everything but being human. 'Levi' was human. 'Levi' loved and was loved, 'Levi' laughed and cried and- I still cry, though. I cried when Eren left me, I cried that first night I had to sleep in Prince Levi Ackerman's bed all by myself, and I'd probably be crying now if my tears hadn't dried up.

So then... I'm still human. I'm still 'Levi', I'm still who Eren fell in love with. Eren told me something, he promised to prove it to me: that I was a good person. Prince Levi Ackerman isn't a good person. He never was. But... What if Prince Levi Ackerman never came back? What if 'Levi' was the heir to the throne?

Eren told me I was a good person, and because I am 'Levi', I trust him. And no good person would leave their country to ruin. What was I doing here? Eren... Eren left me, and no matter how much I mourn my loss and blame myself and pity my loneliness, he wasn't coming back. I only had two days to return to Shiganshina, and I was going back as 'Levi'. Prince Levi Ackerman had been me, he had been me for such a long part of my life he was almost me indefinitely. But he was gone now, and now I was living. I was living and loving and even though I was crying now maybe someday I could laugh again, too. 

I got up off bed, sighed, and went over to the box of movies. I stared at it for a long time, then dug through it to find what I was looking for. Upon finding it I stood up with it in hand, then walked out of the room. 'Levi' had to return to his kingdom, but before he did, he had to carry out the last wish Eren had.

"Oi. Mikasa." She looked up from her phone, startled, and I shifted my weight awkwardly. "...I'm going back with you. But first... Have you ever seen the movie Pacific Rim?"

"No..." I nodded and motioned for her to follow me back to my room, where I put in the movie and sat back down on my bed. She stood in the doorway, unsure of what I wanted her to do, but I wasn't sure either.

"Eren told me I was a freak for not watching movies. He told me it was dumb I hadn't done a lot of stuff." I took a shuddering breath, not looking at Mikasa. "He also treasured relationships with family. He was happy to meet you. He wanted to become best friends with you so that I was forced to spend time with you and we could bond and shit and he'd be a hero."

"Oh..." She hesitated a moment more before coming in and sitting on the bed beside me, eyes fixed on the screen, mimicking me though the volume was down and it was only previews.

"Eren was a hero. You never got to know him, and though I've never shown interest in what kind of life you live I pity you for that. But Eren was a hero, and he left me... He left me these." I gestured to the box of movies, to the screen, and then sighed as I lowered my hand to rest over my heart. 

Mikasa didn't say anything, just stared at me before slowly turning her gaze back towards the screen, and I knew she understood. This was Eren's last mission for playing as my hero, and I wasn't going to smudge his memory by letting it slip alway. I didn't like Mikasa, and I knew she didn't like me, but I loved Eren, and so for his same I would do this. For his sake, and... For 'Levi's' sake.

~~~

Mikasa's POV

In all the years I had lived, Levi had never cried. He was cruel and unemotional, and though I would never admit it to anyone, Eren Yeager had been right. I did admire him for that, I did admire that the problems of others never seemed to really catch up to him. It was what gave him an edge up, what made him who he was.

I had been pissed off when he had locked himself up in his room after Eren had left, but so long as he returned with me by the end of the week it didn't matter. I suppose it never really got through to me that those days had been spent in misery, had been spent in tears. When he was telling me about how Eren was a hero, though, I could see it in his eyes. He was no longer emotionless, and while I saw the sadness there I also saw the love.

The movie had been good. Levi hadn't been able to sit through all of it, and had crawled under his blankets halfway through. I did my best to pretend to ignore how his body was shaking, racked with silent sobs, but I couldn't ignore it when he fell asleep at the end of it all. Levi, my emotionless older brother, crying himself to sleep? He didn't cry, and as far as I was aware he didn't sleep much either.

Eren Yeager. I knew it was his fault, er, I knew he was the reason. Thinking about it, it was truthfully better Levi had emotions for when he ruled. And then I began to wonder... Should I really have sent Eren away? Well, it wasn't really my choice he had left, but I had been the one to give him reason to.

Normally I didn't feel any guilt, normally I wouldn't have questioned my own actions like this. But I suppose it was fitting, huh? The very same person who was able to coax Levi into humanity was the one who made me feel emotions as well. In the short time I had spent around him, he had been able to see right through me, and it hit me with the surprising feeling that he understood me, though it wasn't logical that he did.

I was shocked when Levi told me how Eren had planned to try and repair the relationship I had with my older brother, especially when it really had nothing to do with him. Usually that sort of thing would annoy me, but then I would think of Eren's carefree smile that he had willingly shown to me while I was still someone he had just met and I would question myself again. Maybe it did have to do with him, maybe it did matter to him because he had been Levi's significant other, and that kind of thing did matter to the other person.

Had I really been right in destroying that sort of pure relationship? It was bound to happen sooner or later, and my dick of a brother needed to realize that. But I had already admitted to the fact that Eren had made him more fit to rule a kingdom, more fit to rule other's lives. 

Eren could've been an amazing ruler, too, I suppose. And then each and every one of his subject's lives would become his problems, and instead of letting Levi dump whatever on them I could picture him guiding my brother to help bring everyone happiness. Somehow I knew he wouldn't do it himself, that he wouldn't take credit, but when the kingdom prospered and sung with happiness, it would've been because of Eren.

I sighed, and stood up. It was time I fixed what I had broken, and it was time I found Eren Yeager.

~~~

I found him that very day, 'borrowing' Levi's jet when I caught his trail. He had moved up north, and was currently staying in a cheap hotel in a cheap town as he tried to find work. I wasn't like Levi, and I didn't mind using my heritage to manipulate people, so I was able to find him quite easily and was Eren given a spare keycard into his hotel room. 

I knocked before entering, surprised when my cheeks colored slightly at the though of accidentally walking in on him when he wasn't fully clothed. Luckily he was completely covered, bundled up against the cold as if he had just gotten back or was about to leave. He seemed shocked at my presence, but he quickly collected himself and bowed to me and sat on the bed across from where a chair stood on one side of the room.

"Ah... Please, sit down. Do you what anything to drink, Your Highness?" I shook my head, taking the seat across from where he was fidgeting on the bed.

"Do you love my brother?" He turned red at my words, staring at me with his mouth hanging open slightly, before he reached up to cover his face with both hands and look down.

"...Your brother is the heir to a kingdom. I never knew him." I frowned slightly, partially from his obvious denial and partially because it was awfully cold in the room.

"Don't play dumb. You've spent the past few days away from him, do you miss him?" He didn't remove his hands, didn't look up, but I heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Listen, I'm sorry for my lack of respect, but I have to ask you why it matters. You said so yourself that it was best I realized I couldn't stay with His Highness." I sighed and shook my head, and Eren finally looked back up at me.

"I was wrong. Levi... He's not the same anymore. Not since when I last saw him. He's not hard and unfeeling anymore, and I know it's because of you. If I had known before... I never would've said anything. He's changed, and he's not the prince I remember." Eren shut his eyes tightly, as if I were confirming suspicions he didn't want to hear about. "You said he had lied to you about who he was..."

"Because that bastard never even told me who he was! He never had the right to tell me he loved me, never had the right to-" he broke off, face falling. "Forgive me, Your Highness."

"There's nothing to forgive, Eren. You don't have to use formalities with me." He averted his eyes, and I knew something similar must've happened between him and Levi. "Listen, Eren. Levi may have lied to you in the beginning, but I don't think it was a lie by the time I told you his heritage. I know he changed, and I think he changed to fit the role of whoever it was that could be loved by you."

"Your High-" I glared at him, and he looked down, sighing. "Mikasa, that kind of thing to say..."

"He told me you were a hero, you know." Eren looked up, shock written across his features. "He asked to watch a movie with me, and he told me he was doing it because he knew you'd want him to. And he told me that though you left him, you left him with a heart. He's not the prince I knew, so I believe he's the 'Levi' you fell in love with."

"I... I'm not sure what to say. Did he really say... Did he really say I left him with a hea-" he broke off, voice cracking as he held his head in his hands. I nodded, and he seemed to struggle with something that almost looked like a smile. "Why... Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Levi's leaving tomorrow." There was no more smile now, and I found myself hoping he wasn't about to cry. "I wanted you to know, in case you wanted to come back."

"Look, it was very nice of you to come find me to tell me this. It made me feel... It made me feel so happy to know there was a possibility I hadn't been in love with someone who hadn't been there, and it makes me just as happy to know that he said those things to you." I sighed, waiting for the 'but'. "But... His Highness has a kingdom to lead, and he doesn't need me to do that."

"I-"

"No. I'm not going back to him. I'm sorry." I nodded, somehow not surprised.

"Then... Know this, alright? Ten days from now, in the palace of Shiganshina, there will be a coronation celebration, a masked ball." I removed a small envelope from my purse, handing it to Eren. "You're invited. You don't have to go, but you can if you change your mind."

"I can't except this..." I refused to let him hand the invitation back to me, and I knew he was indecisive about going. I didn't mind- I had done my part. I had realized that I had made a mistake, and I had tried to fix it. If Eren truly doesn't think Levi is to who he fell in love with, then there's nothing more I can do. I stood, about to leave, but hesitated by the door. "It's cold out there, huh?"

"Yeah. Why did you choose the cold?" Eren averted his eyes, face turning red, and I hoped I didn't look the same way at how easy he was able to read why I didn't want to go outside.

"Oh! Well, uh... Um... You see...!" He hung his head, sighing in defeat. "Because Levi hates the cold."

"Wait, really? You..." I rolled my eyes, amused, and Eren shrugged, grinning sheepishly. Then he sighed, getting up as well. He still was all dressed up to go into the cold, though now he removed his scarf from around his neck and approached me. He hesitated before leaning over me to wrap the scarf around my neck, offering a small smile.

"That should help keep out the cold, right?" I stared at him, wide-eyed, unable to stop my cheeks from feeling warmer than they should. I nodded slowly, reaching up to tug at the scarf. It was warm from Eren wearing it, and I almost smiled when I noticed the scent mingling with Eren's on it was Levi's. I wondered how many times Eren had wrapped this same scarf around his neck, how many times this one length of scarlet had warmed him on both the outside and inside. And just like that, he gave it up to me because I didn't want to go out in the cold.

"Thank you, Eren." He nodded and grinned at me, and I pulled the scarf up to try and hide my reddened cheeks. "And... I'm sorry for what I did to you and my brother. I don't know if you still love him, but... He still loves you. I think he always will. Consider the ball, alright?"

"Alright. If Levi says anything about..." He gestured at the scarf, and from his expression I knew that Levi would know that I had seen Eren just from seeing the scarf. "Just tell him that he was an idiot for not realizing what a kind heart his sister has. You are both good people, and I will always love the good person over the great one."


	17. Chapter 17

Eren's POV

I was doomed. I missed Levi so fucking much, missed wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight. Every fiber of my being protested not being at his side, but what was I supposed to do? Through all of this I still felt betrayed, lied to. Who thinks they have the right to make up an identity and claim other's love with it?

But... I can't stop loving him. Even if it was just a lie, even if I fell in love with someone who wasn't really there, I still fell in love nonetheless. And when Mikasa came to me... Was I really a hero? I'd never considered myself one, never considered myself any greater than anyone else. It was a nice thought, though, that there was someone out there who did think that highly of me.

And then I would be once more overwhelmed with the love that I had felt, with the ghost of the warmth of Levi's body, and I would be drawn back to the other thing Mikasa had said: Levi had changed. It was in these moments, the time spent wishing that I had been wrong, that I would begin to believe her. That I would begin to believe that in the end, Levi was exactly the person I thought I fell in love with.

Even when I was beginning to believe, I questioned the logic of such a thing. That still meant that at first he had been lying to me, and there was no way of knowing when he had stopped acting and started living the life he had made for himself to be with me. But, and this was the but about this idea that kept me from burning the invitation, no matter how long it took for Levi to really be who I fell in love with there was the undeniable fact that he had changed because of me.

I would feel the heat rise to my cheeks, feel the urge to call him that instant, but then I would remember that I didn't fully believe that Levi had changed into who he had created for me. I would argue with myself for hours, recalling the desperate look in his eyes when he told me he couldn't be just a friend with me, remembering that he had refused to teach me the language of his country because he didn't want me snooping.

I never got anywhere, of course. There was no new information to be found, no realization to come to me and prove to me whether I had been in love with someone who was real or not. Part of me was relieved I never reached a conclusion, terrified of what the answer would be. The other part of me needed to know, needed to know so desperately that this part of me was so much larger than anything else.

And so, after four days of hesitation, I opened the small white envelope Mikasa had given me. To my surprise there was more than just the formal invitation- there was a note from Mikasa, as well.

Thank you, Eren. I look forward to seeing you again.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

I hesitated over the number, unsure whether to call or not. I sighed before giving in, knowing that I would eventually and I may as well get it over with. I dialed the number hastily, then had to start over after I almost lost the nerve to go to the ball at all. But then I remembered why I was going, remembered the single question I needed to ask Levi so desperately, and I hit the call button. To my surprise, the phone was picked up on the first ring, though I didn't recognize the voice.

"Took you long enough! I was getting so tired of holding my phone at the ready!" I remained silent, shocked, and I heard the woman on the other side yawn. "Haven't slept in forever because of your indecisiveness."

"Umm... I'm sorry, who is this?" The woman cackled, and I resisted the urge to shrink away from the phone.

"I'm Hanji Zoe, I had been the late Queen's advisor. Mikasa filled me in on the whole story about you and our little Levi, so I've been waiting for you to call!" I stayed silent again, trying to process how someone could be so loud and direct. "I'll arrange for you to be picked up. Get your stuff ready by this evening, okay? We've got to get you over here quick in order to prepare you."

"Prepare me for what?" There was another cackle, and while I was still a bit wary of this 'Hanji' character, I was also curious about what her relationship with Levi had been. 'Our little Levi', huh?

"The ball of course! You obviously need a suit, and a mask, and I doubt you know how to dance. Oh! And how about I teach you how to say 'I love you' in our language?" I sighed, and at the sound Hanji quieted. "Is there something wrong?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to the ball to get back together with His Highness. I just... I have to ask him something." There was silence on the other end of the phone, and I wondered if she had been that bent on getting us back together when she didn't even know me. "If... Depending on his answer, I..."

"Will get your frickle frackle on?" I turned bright red, mouth hanging open slightly, though this time Hanji's cackle sounded a bit more like nervous laughter. "Tell you what, little Eren. I'm still going to get you ready. And at the night of the ball, you can ask Levi your question. I won't try too hard to stop you from leaving if his answer isn't what you are looking for, by if it is, you have to kiss him. Right then and there, in front of everyone."

"What kind of deal is that? I don't even need your help, thank you very-"

"Eren, sweetie, you need my help. You're going to the coronation ball of your ex. Let mama Hanji help!" I groaned but didn't argue, and she squealed. "Great! Someone'll come by in a few hours! Be ready to leave!"

~~~

When I finished my journey to the palace of Shiganshina, I was terrified. The palace had to have been at least ten times as large as the humongous mansion Levi had, and everyone was dressed up even though nothing was going on for the next five days. I felt incredibly small and out of place, but I did my best to swallow my doubts and follow my escort through a back entrance up a few flights of stairs to finally reach what I presumed was Hanji's room. The second my escort began knocking the door flew open, and after getting a fleeting glimpse of a woman with glasses and brown hair tied up in a ponytail I was almost knocked down from the force of her hug.

"HI! I'M HANJI, AND YOU'RE LEVI'S LOVER! YAY!" I struggled to pull from her embrace, and all of a sudden she backed away real quickly. Scanning the hallway, she pulled me into her room and slammed the door in my escort's face, locking it without hesitation. Turning back to me, she lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "Sorry! We'd best keep quite about you until the ball! I want you to be a surprise, like my corontaion present to him. Though, I suppose from Mikasa, too...."

"I already told you that I may not be staying, so-"

"Oh, I know, but I have a feeling I know what you're going to ask. Something along the lines of, 'did you ever love me,' right?" I made a face and shrugged, unsure of how I was going to word my question just yet. "In any case, I know Levi will give you the answer you want! Oh, you should see the poor thing now, he looks horrible-"

"Oi, Shitty Glasses, what's going on in there?" I froze at the sound of his voice, not hesitating when Hanji motioned for me to hide. She went over to the door of her bedroom and opened it, grinning apologetically.

"Eh, sorry Levi, you know I can get a bit loud when I'm having a conversation with my tooth collection..." I wanted to react to what Hanji had just said, but at that moment she shifted so that I got a clear view of Levi's expression from where I was hiding. Though his voice had sounded as annoyed as usual through the door, and his face was a perfect mask, his eyes were breathtakingly sad. I felt my heart clench and I had to look away, wondering how I was supposed to hide from him until the coronation ball.

"Whatever. Just keep it down, alright?" Hanji let out a nervous giggle, and I hesitated before shifting my gaze once more to those excruciatingly familiar steel grey eyes as she responded.

"Watching some more of those movies Eren-"

"I told you not to mention him!" I froze, shocked at his violent reaction to hearing my name. When the movies had been brought up his face fell, but the second Hanji began saying my name his expression morphed into one of pain and he took a step back. I once more lowered my head, this time in shame. Was this... Was this my fault?

"Ah, right, right, of course. Sorry!" She closed the door before Levi could say anything else, coming over to me and patting my back sympathetically. "See what I mean? I've never seen him so down in the dumps before! Come now, lets get you measured for your suit, alright?"

The next five days past in a blur, where I stayed in Hanji's room and she taught me what I'd need to know for the ball. She never had anything negative to say, apparently, though she could be a bit odd at times, so she wasn't the worst companion despite my initial impression. She was pretty obsessed with science, so I had to listen to her rants and explanations of her experiments on multiple occasions, but it wasn't terrible.

The afternoon leading up to the ball I began to feel sick, suddenly very much against seeing Levi again, talking to Levi again, touching Levi again. But Hanji gave me no choice, helping to get me ready every step of the way and fussing over how I looked. 

I wore a suit of white and gold with a simple yet obviously expensive golden mask, the clothes doing their job of hiding the differences between me and everyone else of status that would be at the ball. I had tried to refuse the lavish outfit when Hanji first made me try it on, but she wouldn't hear anything about it. 

As I bent down a bit to let her attempt to fix my hair for the thirtieth time, I sighed and glanced at the clock in the room to see that it was time for people to begin arriving, mentioning it to Hanji and flinching when she began squealing in my ear. I tried unsuccessfully to calm her down, and soon she was dragging me through servant's corridors towards the grand ballroom. She still was doing her best to keep me a surprise for Levi, though at this point I was wondering if he would even notice me. A simple glance at where he sat atop a gilded throne amongst the already pretty full ballroom told me that there was no way he could see everyone, and after studying him for a moment longer I wondered if he wanted to see anyone.

While in appearance he look handsome and regal, his posture and expression made it clear he didn't want to be here. He was leaning his head on a hand, looking bored but unable to hide the sadness in his eyes I saw when I first arrived in his palace. My attention lingered on his crown, resting just slightly lopsided on his head, and I felt a pang of regret that I wasn't able to see his coronation.

At that moment all activity was stopped and the room quieted as Levi was prodded into standing up, fulfilling the tradition of giving a short speech as King before the ball officially began. I was surprised at how neutral he sounded, easily playing the part of rightful King. I sighed as he sat back down and the music began again, looking around before spotting Hanji talking to Mikasa a ways off.

I felt a small smile tug at my lips as I approached them, waving tentatively at Mikasa as her gaze turned to me. I was surprised to see that she was wearing the scarf I had given her, but when she realized what I was staring at she simply tugged it up over her nose and averted her eyes. Hanji raised an eyebrow and made a small sound of surprise, and I shifted my attention to her.

"Jeez, Eren, you must have some special pheromone you're sending out to seduce royals." I felt myself turn bright red and tried to stutter out an argument, but Hanji just laughed. "Hey, I want you to meet Erwin! He was the King's advisor, now Levi's advisor."

She weaved through the mass of people to a large blond man standing relatively nearby to where Levi sat, and as introductions were made I felt my heartbeat quicken and stole a glance at Levi. I looked away hurriedly when I caught him looking in my direction, but couldn't help but to look again. He was sitting up straight now, and him being the only person in the room not wearing a mask I could see the slight surprise, confusion, and even hope on his face.

So long as I didn't make eye contact with him he shouldn't be able to know who I was, though I felt myself questioning myself on why I suddenly didn't want him to know of my presence. Hanji poked my cheek as she caught me drifting off into my own thoughts, though it was Erwin who spoke.

"You know, Eren, His Highness isn't actually supposed to get up until the last dance of the night." I sent him a questioning glance, and he gestured towards Levi. I took a deep breath before looking back at him, freezing when our eyes met instantly. He looked yet more shocked, though the hope turned to pure happiness as he seemed to breath out my name from where he sat watching me.

I gulped and tried to ignore how much I wanted to waltz right up to him and ask him now, seeing as he obviously knew who I was now, but the way he remained seated made me pause. He was grasping at the throne as if his life depended on it, and the way he fidgeted I could tell he wanted to get up and come over to me, but he remained sitting. I looked back over at Erwin, and he shrugged.

"He is the King. Gotta live up to certain expectations, and one of those is that at his coronation ball he isn't supposed to get up until the last dance." He paused, and both of us glanced back at Levi. I blushed at how intently he was staring at me, but managed to drag my gaze back to Erwin. "At that time, no one will be dancing save for the King and whoever he chooses as his partner."

"Usually who he dances with then is an indication of who may someday become Queen~" I glared at Hanji, but my face was burning and I knew I couldn't hide my sudden conflicting emotions. 

Queen? I didn't know about that, but all of a sudden I became extremely interested in any possibility he would ask someone other than me to dance. I mean, I had run away, and he was the King and had expectations to meet as Erwin said, and I suppose it's entirely possible there was a girl somewhere here who had caught his eye... I squeezed my eyes shut, banishing the negative thoughts and ignoring the sudden worry and jealousy I felt.

My eyes flicked back to Levi, but he was still staring at me. I didn't look away this time, managing a small wave in his direction. The fact that I acknowledged him seemed to light up his features, and he smiled slightly before giving me a small wave in return. 

"Eren, I'm sorry, but you probably shouldn't interact with the King unless he approaches you, and you know he can't do that until the end of the evening..." I felt my face fall at Erwin's words, but I nodded and shot one last glance at Levi before turning back to sigh and grin at Hanji.

"Suppose that'll just build the suspense, won't it?" Hanji laughed and ruffled my hair, and I let out a yelp and tried to back away. 

Much to my horror, I bumped into someone, but luckily it was only Mikasa. It felt a bit odd being able to interact freely with her when she was also a royal and seemed to be attracting a fair amount of attention, but Erwin didn't say anything so I didn't make an effort to stay out of her way. Besides, she had been the one to follow Hanji and I and position herself right behind me, it was her own fault for being bumped into.

The rest of the evening continued on like that, letting me relax I got the feeling of it and have a bit of fun while I was there. My glances back at Levi became less frequent, though I could always feel his eyes on me. Near the end of the ball I felt all the anticipation and worries flood back, growing more stiff and less talkative. I froze when the last song of the night was announced, though as I bit my lip and fiddled with my hands Levi seemed relieved to finally get up. 

There were murmurs as he immediately began walking in my direction, guesses on who he would choose. I flinched as most people's guesses where of a young woman standing close by, who I was just now learning was a princess from a bordering country. Levi was a King, wouldn't he want to marry another royal? It may even be asked of him... I squeezed my eyes shut as Levi grew nearer, wondering why the hell I was worrying about who Levi married right now.

"Oi... Eren..." I flinched at the sound of my name, but when he reached out and tugged on my hand I opened my eyes and gave him a nervous smile. The small smile he offered in return was genuine, and I was able to block out the stunned silence of the large crowd. Levi bowed down slightly and kissed my hand, smirking at my reddened face before leading me into the center of the area cleared for this last dance. 

When it became clear that I was Levi's choice for this dance, the group of people near Levi's throne began playing again, and I took a deep breath before Levi and I began our dance. The experience was hypnotizing, and I was only able to break eye contact with the shorter man when he began speaking to me, softly so as no one could listen in.

"You look stunning. When did you learn to dance?" I averted my eyes at the compliment, feeling myself melting into his arms and not wanting to just yet. I hadn't asked him...

"Oh, ah, Hanji taught me..." Levi raised an eyebrow, and I remembered that he had no clue that I had been here until the ball. "I've been here in the palace for the past five days... Mikasa invited me, and then Hanji was having me stay in her room where she taught me to dance and got me the suit..."

"Hm. So then... You've been here for that long... Did you go to... Did you see..." He trailed off, and I felt a pang of guilt as I realized what he was talking about.

"No... I'm sorry. Ah, congratulations, I suppose. I mean, uh, yeah. Congratulations. You'll make a great king." Levi seemed to hesitate over responding, tightening his grip on my waist and hand.

"Every kingdom needs both a king and a queen..." I looked away again, wetting my lips before answering.

"I... I need to ask you something." Levi nodded, and I took a deep breath. "When Mikasa came to see me, she said that you had changed. I need to know: did you really end up changing to be the person you told me you were?"

"Yes." I was shocked by the straight forward answer, but I noticed how he refused to look me in the eye from embarrassment. "Eren, I am Levi. I am. I'm King, too, but I'm a different king than I would've been if I hadn't met you. I..."

"Thank you, Your High-" I cut myself off, stopping as the music faded away and Levi tried to draw me closer. I knew that others could hear us now that the music couldn't cover us, but I still felt the need to say something. There was no way he could fake the look in his eyes right now, no way he could look so relieved and joyful and in love without being who he told me he was. "Can I still be your hero, then, Levi?"

"What? Oh god, did Mikasa say something..." I grinned as his cheeks colored slightly, finally giving in and wrapping him in a tight hug. There was a small gasp from the crowd at my lack of respect for the King's boundaries, but Levi ignored them all and returned the embrace, nuzzling into the crook of my neck and speaking into the skin there. "Shitty brat. You'll always be my hero."

I let out a content sigh, and I finally let the relief of what Levi had said before wash over me. I was okay. We were okay... I think... I pushed slightly away from Levi, glancing around the ballroom before shifting my weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, but when Levi reached up to tug my face down I complied. Instead of kissing me as I had assumed (and hoped) he would do, he reached behind my head to untie my mask, letting it fall to the floor without a second though. He seemed to drink up every detail of my face before he finally reached for a kiss, and I hummed happily into his lips.

Ah, how I had missed the taste of his lips, the warm feeling of happiness it brought me. I clutched at Levi as he reached both hands up around my neck to tangle in my hair, glaring at me when I pulled away after he nipped at my bottom lip. I blushed and gestured to everyone watching, some with expressions of horror, and Levi let out something close to a growl. He pulled away and tugged me over to his throne, standing in front of it and raising our hands by lifting the hand who's fingers were interlocked with mine.

He spoke loudly and confidently, though I didn't understand until Hanji magically appeared by my side and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"He introduced you and said that you would be the only one he would take as a bride!" I pushed her away, embarrassed, but tightened my grip on Levi's hand anyway. He looked up at me and smiled, and I grinned back.

"Thanks for coming, brat. I thought I may never see you again..." I sighed and lowered our hands as Erwin stepped forward to announce the end of the evening, pulling him close and leaning my forehead against his.

"Thank your sister. I wouldn't have come if she hasn't told me she thought that you ended up being who I fell in love with..." Levi looked up at me, almost expectant but also clearly anxious, and I sighed contentedly. "Yeah, I love you, Levi."

He grinned at me and I returned the gesture before giving him a quick peck on the tip of his nose, then stepped back so that he could lead me out of the ballroom. The ball had come to an end, but our love lived on. Somehow, that single thought filled me with so much happiness I felt I could float away, but I stayed grounded, anchored down by Levi's hand in mine.


	18. Smoot ;3

Levi's POV

I dragged Eren from the ballroom with as much self control as I could muster (which wasn't much), ignoring the pins-and-needles sensation of being so happy. In some ways, the kiss in the ballroom was better than our first one, a desperate need to reaffirm each other's presence and love and warmth instead of an exploration. Add in the fact that I was able to label Eren as mine in front of 300+ people and that I wasn't crying this time, and the euphoria I felt was given an electric quality.

It took all of my power not to swerve into the first room we came into, to lock the door and reclaim Eren's lips. Instead I continued the hurried trek to my new quarters, the upgrade from Prince to King given to me in materials as well as influence. Eren remained silent, grasping at my hand just as tightly as I was holding his, but when I glanced back at him his expression bordered serene relief and jittery happiness.

I jerked to a stop as I rounded a corner, almost letting out a furious cry that I was stopped. I glared at the few men in front if me, high counts in the royal court, but they didn't react. The one at the lead, Pixis, was the only one who seemed to be remaining calm, but his eyes were storming with rage.

"Your Majesty! I do believe we discussed this matter in detail- you were to ask the princess from Maria to dance, not some... Some commoner boy!" I opened my mouth to snap out a retort but paused when I felt Eren's fingers slacken, glancing back with concern when he tried to escape my hold. I shook my head, and he hesitated before wrapping his fingers around mine lightly.

"Don't ever speak about Eren like that again. I may have held zero power over you a few days ago, but currently I am the single person who holds a higher position than you, and I will not hesitate to use that power." The men behind Pixis shifted their weight as they felt the growing tension in the air, but did nothing.

"There's no point in denying yourself of logic, Your Majesty. The boy you have with you will only be a burden, and the people will not accept him as their 'Queen' as you have put it to them. He looks more like a child than anything, and, well, he's a he!" Eren tried to escape my grasp once more, but I didn't let him go. I stepped back slightly so that I could lean lightly against his chest, wrapping his arm around me as he stiffened.

"Don't give me that bullshit. Mikasa likes him, too, so it's not as if he's unsociable or crabby like me. He'd make a better leader than I would." Eren drew a breath to say something, but I cut him off. "I will not accept my role as King unless Eren remains by my side, as my equal."

"Then give up your crown!" I raised an eyebrow at Pixis, and he coughed and averted his eyes. "...Your Majesty, you speak of this boy as if you wish to marry. You cannot really wish to force such a thing on-"

"Shut the fuck up Pixis. I'm not saying I plan on getting married right this instant; in fact I have quite a bit I have to discuss with my boyfriend. Speaking of, how long are we going to continue this pointless argument? I want make-up sex." I chuckled as Eren tensed against my back, reaching a hand down to pinch his thigh.

"Your Majesty! You cannot really hope to pursue such vulgar actions with a young boy! And to speak of such things in front of-"

"I do believe I told you to shut up. If you really feel it necessary to continue this, send someone to see me a week from now." I paused, leveling my gaze with Pixis's. "I will prove to you before then that Eren Yeager is more than worthy of his place by my side."

I stepped away from Eren, smirking slightly as he seemed hesitant over removing his arm from around me, but I pried his fingers away to interlace then with my own and finish guiding him to my room. The second the door was closed I pushed Eren up against it, smashing my lips against his. Eren let out a small yelp and I took the opportunity to slip my tongue into his mouth, hands wandering over Eren's ass and up his shirt.

He broke away suddenly, gasping for air, and pushed me away lightly. I felt all my happiness dissolve in that single action, and his face told me that my pain was written clearly across my face. 

"No, no, I don't mean... Oh shit I'm sorry..." He pulled me close again, but pulled away after hugging me briefly. I let my pride slip for a moment and whined pitifully when he once more pushed me away slightly, and I watched guilt flicker behind his eyes. "Ah, sorry Levi, I just... I think we need to have a talk first, okay?"

"But..." He gave me a small smile and reached out a hand to cradle my cheek, and I didn't hesitate in leaning into the touch I had missed so dearly in Eren's absence. 

"You're adorable when you pout, you know. And hey, I love you and make-up sex sounds fucking amazing, but I really need to talk to you first. About everything." I tried to turn my face so that I could hide my eyes with the hand he had been cradling my face with, but he pulled back enough so that I missed. 

I made a sound of annoyance as he turned and scanned the room, obviously impressed but not doing anything other than hum and nod before making his way over to the bed. I followed close behind, not hesitating to join him on top of the covers and leaning against the pillows (though I leaned on his chest instead of the plush cushions given to me).

"Everything could take a very long time to talk about." Eren nodded, but didn't say anything as I sighed in defeat. "Shifty brat. What first?"

"I want to know exactly when 'Levi' stopped being a lie." I sighed, somehow unsurprised that that was his first question, and I felt Eren shift slightly under me. "Okay, well maybe not exactly, by I just want to know if it was before we..."

"Much before. I don't remember exactly. Probably around the time I began developing feelings for you, but I already told you I had no idea I had those feelings until we were in Florida." Eren let out a sigh that ended in a happy hum, and I smirked slightly when I realized my answer had been better than what he had been hoping for. "So that's out of the way, right? I'm Levi, I'm a king too, but I love you so fucking much it hurts, and we can move on before I lose my patience with rationality?"

"Oh, Levi. What am I ever going to do with you?" His words came out in a giggle, and I found myself thrilled by the sound. "Alright. I know. We can be done with that. So... Princess from Maria?"

"Are you shitting me right now? Why the hell does she matter?" I felt Eren shift once more beneath me, and I felt a smile tug my lips upward as a thought took hold of me. "Hm. You wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you? Of a girl I never met and don't even know the name of?"

"Shut up! The old guy said..." I rolled my eyes, part of me still not believing this was what I was doing right now. It would've been nice just to put it off forever... 

"Pixis. He's head of the court, and up until I was made King he held the most power in Shiganshina. The other guys were other dicks from the court, and no doubt you'll meet more later. Some of then try to control my army like it's some sort of police force, which is annoying to no end." Eren huffed a breath through his nose, and I shrugged. "Just ignore whatever shitty ideas he planted in your head. Fucker thought it would be funny to speak in English when he knew you wouldn't like the topic... You're not a burden, you never will be one, and I meant everything I said to Pixie Dust back there."

"You're sweet." I hunched my shoulders in defense as I felt my cheeks tint pink, and Eren hugged me close and turned my head so that I could see his grin. He pecked me on the nose before letting me go, and I melted further into him. "Oh... And, I wanted to ask, um, are you... have you been sleeping alright?"

"...Not really..." I was shocked he would bring that up right now, though his concern made me feel warm and fuzzy. Eren sighed and nodded, leaning down to kiss the top of my head, a promise to once more fix my lack of sleep.

"One last thing... I was just... Um, I mean, I was happy, just a bit surprised... I don't know when you were thinking- or if you were at all-"

"Jesus Christ, brat, spit it out." Eren cleared his throat, lowering his voice so it was only a mumble I had to strain to hear.

"Queen?" I chuckled, but the blush in my cheeks was darkening slightly. "I mean, what do you mean by that? Do you want..."

"Eventually. In Shiganshina there can be an acting Queen without marriage, so I was mostly referring to that. Eventually, though..." I trailed off, and while Eren grew stiff he also threw his arms around me and held me close. He burried his face in my hair, and part of me regretted not being able to see his expression.

"Yay..." The mumble was probably something he said under his breath to himself, but overhearing it plastered a stupid grin across my face. His grip tightened on me once more before he let go completely, and I turned so I was straddling his lap. 

The first kiss was slow and soft, full of gratitude for one another and happy thoughts. The moment I swiped my tongue over his lips the second time our lips collided again those thoughts turned lustful, though, remembering our shared wish for much needed fucking.

Eren moaned as I tugged at his hair, pulling back to avert his eyes and breathe heavily before focusing on removing our clothes. I tsked at the annoying task of discarding clothes, sighing when I remembered we were both in formal attire and would have to resist the urge to tear the clothes in our search for skin.

I could feel the impatience building up inside both of us by the time we had finally ridded ourselves of the last layer, erections standing straight and not to be ignored.

"Oh, god, I've missed this..." Eren made a sound of agreement, reaching out to rub the head of my cock and stifling a smirk when I couldn't stop a small moan from slipping out. 

I scowled at him before leaning back in for another kiss, shorter this time in my haste to suck and nip and leave possessive marks in all his favorite places. When I reached his abdomen I switched to nipping at his upper thigh, ignoring his pleas to stop teasing.

I bypassed his already dripping erection completely, flipping Eren over and propping him up so that I had a nice view of his ass. I leaned down slightly and wasted no time in licking at his opening, chuckling when he gasped at the sensation. Yet still I teased, licking around the tight ring of muscle before the younger boy gave up and rutted back against my tongue. 

"Uh-uh, you have to stay still for me." Eren whimpered and I chuckled, retrieving the lube while I was sitting upright again and still had a small portion of my mind thinking clearly.

I kissed down Eren's back as I readied a few of my fingers, slipping the first one in quickly as he was distracted and relishing in the sound of his drawn out moan. I moved my finger around before pulling almost completely out and diving back in with two fingers, earning me an appreciative groan and a frustrated growl as I kept the pace slow.

"Fuckin-ah!-fucking tease! Just hurry up andAH!" I smirked as I found his sweet spot, making sure to brush against it again as I added a third finger. 

Eren was clutching at the sheets desperately now, face buried in a pillow. I removed my fingers abruptly, my patience snapping when Eren looked back at me to beg me to hurry. His face was red, eyes half-lidded and mouth slightly open in the perfect picture of lust and pleasure.

I prepared my member quickly with just a few strokes of my hand to spread the slick substance before positioning myself at Eren's very much ready and waiting entrance, nudging at him and tightening my grip on his hips before slowly sliding myself in. Eren was breathing hard, my own breathing shallow as well, and I could tell he was having a hard time staying still as I waited for him to adjust. I rolled my hips slowly, giving him at least that small bit of friction, only waiting a moment later to begin pulling back out again.

No matter how many times I did this, no matter his many times I claimed Eren as mine, it never got any less amazing. The extreme heat, the feeling of being sucked in and completely devoured by him as I in turn brought him to such a level of bliss he was unable to speak. I found a rhythm quickly, hard and fast and desperate to make up for the small rift that had opened between us when Eren left.

"Ngh... Harder...." I obliged willingly, driving into Eren and shifting slightly so that I found his prostate. "Ah! Levi!" 

I was practically shuddering from the pleasure, somehow managing to keep myself upright and support Eren at the same time as we neared our ends. I could feel him begin to tighten around me, swatting his hand away when he reached down to grab his neglected cock and finish himself off. 

"Fuck, Eren..." I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to cum before him, reaching around myself to take hold of his member. I jerked it in time to my suddenly erratic thrusts, causing him to spill his seed almost instantly and arch his back as his voice raised higher and I continued to drive into him mercilessly before thrusting in one last time and freezing. The pressure that had been built up in my groin loosened, and I slumped against Eren as he collapsed onto the bed completely, both of us still breathing heavy.

"Yeah," my voice was raspy and soft, the effort of speech suddenly almost too much, "I've really missed that."

But Eren was already asleep, and I let out a sigh of contentedness as I caressed his face and kissed his forehead. I struggled to pull the blankets over us before I melted back into his mess of limbs, adding to the confusion and making no effort to disentangle anything as I too drifted off into dreamland. This... This was nice. The warmth, the comfort, the sleepy satisfaction. This was what I wanted, and I was lucky enough to have found the one person able to give me that.


	19. Bubbles and Pancakes

Eren's POV

The scene I woke up to was one I had wished for so many times in the past ten-ish days, I almost convinced myself I was still asleep. Levi was once more snuggled into my chest, clinging to me with both his arms and legs. Cutie. I removed one of my arms from around his waist and brushed away a strand of hair in his face, grinning as I took in how much of a mess his normally neat hair looked and how he slept with his mouth slightly open.

I always cherished the mornings I woke up before him, memorizing the sight of him looking so relaxed and at peace. He stirred, then stirred again, then sneezed. I giggled at the tiny sound, wondering how the hell he went from dominating sexy beast last night to adorable little angel.

"Mmph... Eren?" He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but his grip on me tightened and he was obviously awake. "You're there, right? If I open my eyes... You'll be there?"

"That was so cute, I can't even begin to think of how to un-melt my heart. Yes, I'm here. I'm here now, Levi." I pecked him on his nose as he let out a relieved sigh, though the way his cheeks were tinted pink didn't go unnoticed by me as he opened his eyes.

"I'm glad." I smiled at him, and he returned it with a sleepy half-smile before he frowned. "I'm not letting anyone get near you but me. It's not fair I had to go so long without you... Maybe I can just lock you away or chain you to me."

"Idiot. I have to interact with other people, or else I'll become a crabby recluse and I'd get unbearably bored. But I missed you too... So much.... So I don't plan on leaving again. Unless you have some other huge secret you've kept hidden from me that changes your entire identification?" Levi chuckled, and I closed my eyes and buried my face in his hair. I inhaled, letting the scent to wash over me and relax me further.

"No. But seriously, can I at least keep you to myself for today? Please?" I laughed, not removing my face from his hair, but I knew he was scowling. "I just... It's been real shitty without you around. I did bring the staff with me, and a few of them have tried keeping me company, but it wasn't the same."

"Alright. But in exchange, I want to see your greenhouse." I pulled back when he didn't answer at first, taking in his puzzled expression. "From your stories about being an island boy. I wanna see."

"Hmph. I'm still eating my meals there, so you'll see it." I nodded, grinning as I thought about visiting a place that held such a large part of Levi's childhood. 

"Oh, goodie!" I yawned and sat up, grinning down at Levi when he whined before he scowled at me and pulled himself into a sitting position as well and leaned heavily against me. I let my eyes wander the room, freezing when my gaze landed on a familiar beaten box sitting by the TV across from the bed. "You brought..."

"Shitty brat. I couldn't not bring them." He coughed, looking away. "I mean, it was illogical to not bring them when I hadn't watched them all."

"I bet you a million dollars you didn't watch a single movie we hadn't seen together." Levi blushed and turned his face into my shoulder, trying to hide.

"Shut up." I laughed, then stretched and slid out of bed. "Hey! Brat, don't just leave me here!"

"You weren't the one with a dick up their ass last night, you should be able to walk just fine." Levi grimaced, and I rolled my eyes. "Come on. I bet you have a HUGE bathtub, right? I wanna use it! With bubbles!"

"Hm." He nodded, almost more to himself than to me, then stumbled out of bed himself and wandered in the direction of the bathroom. It was just as large and lavish as I had expected, everything truly fit for a king. I giggled and clapped my hands when Levi dug through a few cabinets before throwing a bottle of bubble bath at me and moving to run the water. 

When it was half full I poured a good amount of the bubble solution into the water, grinning devilishly as I imagined collecting the bubbles and plopping them on Levi's head. I wasted no time in settling into the water once Levi turned the tap off, looking up impatiently at Levi. He sighed, looking at me and the tub wistfully, but shook his head.

"Give me a second. You're going to need clothes once you get out." I scrunched my nose up, and Levi rolled his eyes. "I'd rather you stay cloth-less as well, but apparently that would be looked down upon by society."

"Since when did you care what society thought?" Levi snorted, and I got the feeling he had been making fun of someone.

"I couldn't give a shit about it. Erwin, however, takes his job as my 'advisor' quite seriously and had on multiple occasions had to steer me from the path of unacceptable behaviors, such as flipping off the shitheads who call themselves nobles." I laughed, and Levi smirked before leaving the bathroom to make a call to Hanji to tell her to bring my stuff to his room. 

When he came back he slipped into the bubbles beside me with a relieved sigh, letting out a yelp when I splashed at him. He glared at me, but I simply shrugged and grinned, so we ended up losing half our bath water in a splash fight. When we were finally clean and most of the bubbles had popped we got out, almost slipping on all the water we had spilt in the mad dash to get towels and hide in their fluffy warmth.

I followed Levi out of the bathroom, going over to the door where my suitcase had magically appeared with all of my stuff in it. I dressed quickly, still shivering slightly, then dragged my suitcase into a corner. When Levi was dressed I skipped over to the door so that we could eat some brunch or something, but Levi groaned and went back over to his bedside table first. He picked his crown up with an obvious look of distaste, placing it on his head and shuddering.

"Another doing of Erwin?" Levi scowled and nodded, and I smiled at him, reaching out to straighten it and run my fingers cross one of its jewels. "I know you're not a huge fan of being royalty, but I like the crown. It looks good on you."

"Tch." Though he obviously was trying to maintain an annoyed expression, I could see how he much rather wanted to smile back at me. "Let's go get food. I'm starving."

"Me too! Do you guys have pancakes here?" Levi rolled his eyes, and I shrugged, putting my hands up in defense. "Hey, I have no clue. You guys could all be vegans here or something. That would mean way less calcium, and an explanation to why you're so short."

"Shitty brat, you're just tall!" I laughed as he scowled, letting out a frustrated sigh before continuing. "We have basically the same stuff the US has, I guess. Just picture an America where there's a king and a bit less technology. We still have smart phones and shit, but no one has as much as people in the US. You know how a single person would own like eight Apple products? Yeah, not here."

"Hm. Alright! Then let's to get pancakes!" Levi let out a breathy chuckle as I took his hand and led him out the door, instantly slowing and letting the shorter man lead me to the kitchen.

When we got there I was nearly knocked to the ground by Sasha, who had been by the door when we came in and decided that it was necessary to tackle me. Connie came up and bro-fisted me after Sasha took a step back, both of them grinning wide. The other kitchen staff paused to look our way, bowing low and growing silent when they noticed Levi's presence. Sasha and Connie did small half-bows to Levi when they noticed the others, but were quickly distracted by me once more.

"When'd you get here? His Highne- His Majesty missed you so much it was killing all of us, I mean we missed you too but seriously! And we heard you were at the ball last night and that he asked you to dance for that last song and you guys kissed in front of everyone!" I blushed and averted my eyes from Sasha, and she and Connie laughed.

"Idiots! Where are you hearing that kind of thing?" They both shrugged, still grinning.

"Lady Hanji. Man, I swear she almost cares less about her title than His Hi- ack it's so hard to remember the difference! His Majesty. Anyway, she told us this morning, and she gave us this! She said it was yours..." Connie dashed away and came back with my mask from last night, and to my surprise it was Levi who took it from him. 

"...It may be true. Maybe." Levi rolled his eyes, and I grinned sheepishly at my two friends.

"Brat. Don't deny something when hundreds of people were witness. That's just stupid." His attention flickered to Sasha and Connie before he frowned slightly, stretching upward to kiss my cheek. "Of course I asked him to dance. And I wasn't going to not kiss him..."

"Aww, Your Majesty-hey I got it!-and Eren make such a great couple! Eren, don't you dare forget us when you're busy being Queen." I laughed, letting got of Levi's hand to hug both of my friends.

"Not forgetting. Though seriously, why Queen? I'm a guy, damnit!" Levi chuckled along with my friends' laughter, and he took my hand again before answering.

"Because you bottom." I clapped my free hand over my burning face as my friends broke down into hysterics, wiping away imaginary tears. While they were laughing, however, Levi got onto his toes to whisper in my ear: "Because I love you and that's the title given to the only person seen as my equal."

"Stupid old man. The second answer made my face burn more than the first one." Levi smirked, and cleared my throat as I turned my attention back to Sasha and Connie. "Anyway, we want pancakes!"

"You mean you want pancakes and His Majesty likes you too much to not let you have them." I scowled and opened my mouth to argue, but instead clenched my teeth and let out a frustrated huff. 

"Whatever. Just, pancakes." My friends laughed and I scowled at them a second longer before scurrying behind Levi and peeking over his crown. Sasha and Connie bowed shortly again and moved to prepare pancakes for me and Levi, and as they did that my attention drifted to how it seemed too quiet. I looked back at the rest of the kitchen staff, shocked to see that they were still bowing low and not speaking. Levi seemed to have noticed too, and raised his voice to be heard throughout the kitchen.

"No one told you to bow you little shits. If you really feel the need to do so then don't wait for me to bow back of salute or something. Keep working." Everyone stood up abruptly, muttering affirmative replies and going about heir job. Levi leaned into my shoulder, watching the commotion with an uneasy expression. "I hate that."

"Don't be too mean, though. They have no idea what you want from them, and they were being careful and respectful." Levi made a face before straightening again, reaching up and plucking his crown off his head. He rolled it between his fingers before I got hold of it and put it back atop his head, sighing. "I already told you you look fine in it. I meant, you wear it well. The crown itself and everything it represents. You'll be an amazing king, and I'll always be here if you need help. I love you, my king."

Levi stiffened at my side before he relaxed, sighing with content. Yeah, I'd be there for him and with him, and I didn't want it any other way, especially when the rest of our day was spent locked in our room watching movies.


	20. Bowling

Levi's POV

"Is there a bowling alley nearby?" I looked over at Eren in confusion, watching him doodle on the backs of papers I had been planning on trashing. 

After the day we spent locked up watching movies, Erwin had decided that Eren needed more regal looking clothes and stole him away from me for a day. I had been irritable and moody and dreamt of kicking Erwin's face in, though I had to admit Eren looked nice dressed up. Though I had spent most of yesterday trying to work to get my mind off of Eren, there was a hell of a lot of stuff a king has to do so I was forced to keep going even now.

"No clue. Ask Shitty Glasses." As if summoned by speaking of her, the devil came waltzing into my office at that moment looking too excited for her own good, and I groaned. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I just came to see if you were being boring and Eren needed a buddy!" I glared at her, standing up abruptly and walking swiftly over to Eren and wrapping my arms around him as he continued to sit and doodle. "Jeez, I new you were pissed about not being around him yesterday, but that's a bit much don't you think? Anyway, Eren, I heard you mention a bowling alley?"

"Ah, yeah! I have this list of stuff I want to do with Levi since he basically lived his entire life doing nothing until he met me, and bowling is next on the list." Hanji grinned, and I scowled, already knowing what she wanted.

"Eren, don't you dare give her that list." Eren turned his head to stick his tongue out at me, taking out his phone and unlocking it. "Eren you brat, I swear-"

"Here ya go, Hanji!" Hanji skimmed the list quickly, cackling in delight when she realized Eren had marked which things we had done together. When she was done she leaned in and whispered something in Eren's ear, and much to my annoyance he giggled before agreeing. He flipped through a few things on his phone before handing it to her again, and I scowled when I realized what she was looking at. "Sorry Levi, she said she'd trade pictures with me of you. I still want those photos from when you were a kid."

"Fuck no, Shitty Glasses don't you dare show that shitty little brat-"

"There's probably a bowling alley somewhere in town, though I don't know where. Want me to alert a chauffeur- er, sorry, forgot you guys usually have Marco take you everywhere. Want me to fetch him?" Eren grinned and nodded, and I threw my hands into the air in frustration that I was mostly being ignored. "Excellent! I'll go then, Levi, behave! Be a good boyfriend and let Eren play a bit- he must be bored out of his mind!"

I grumbled as she left, though I was thinking about what she said. Was Eren really bored with me? It wasn't like he hadn't called me a 'boring old man' in the past, and it was true that while Eren could basically do whatever he chose to sit around in whatever room I was working in.

"Levi? Are you alright?" I waved the taller boy off, though his expression of concern didn't disappear. I rubbed at my temples, deep in thought about what to do if Eren was really bored with me, surprised when Eren drew me into a tight hug. "Well, I'm giving you a hug anyway. Sometimes you just get this look on your face like, 'my life is terrible someone please give me a hug', and it's no fun to watch you like that."

"I'm fine. Really." Eren humphed and moved to step out of the embrace, but I wrapped my arms around him tightly and rested my head on his chest before he could. "That didn't mean I didn't want a hug."

"Aww... Really, what am I going to do with you?" Eren titled his head to kiss the top of my head, and I sighed before letting go and stepping back, looking back at my desk and the pile of work to do before looking back at Eren pleadingly. He laughed and nodded, and I let out a relieved sigh. "Don't worry, I was asking about the bowling alley 'cuz I knew you had to be tired of work by now."

"Thanks, brat." He nodded and grinned before hooking his arm around mine and pulling me on the door before promptly getting lost, and I smirked before guiding him through the palace. Anyone we passed, servant or nobleman, bowed low as we passed, and I was hit once more with an intense hatred for being royalty. 

When we had reached where Bodt had a car ready for us, Eren raced ahead to talk to him, and I realized that the two probably hadn't seen each other in over a week. I watched them for a moment before getting into the car, rolling my eyes when the freckled boy rushed to apologize for not holding the door for me. I waved him off, more focused on the burnet who had joined me in the backseat, and he gave me an odd look before bowing and taking the driver's seat.

The bowling alley Bodt took us to was fairly large, and much to my satisfaction, clean. Eren quickly lit up and began bouncing on the balls of his feet when he saw a sign in one of the windows advertising black light bowling, which supposedly would be like glow-in-the-dark bowling.

The man at the front cashier had his back turned when we entered, so when Eren began speaking he started. Eren was asking about whether we would need to use their bowling shoes or whatever, but as soon as the man noticed just who Eren had both arms wrapped around his eyes grew wide and he bowed.

"Your Majesty! I never would've suspected that someone of such status would visit my humble alley, please allow me to assist you in any way you desire." I scowled and hunched my shoulders, leaning back into Eren. "And with Your Majesty is the Queen?"

"Uh..." Eren seemed to grow uncomfortable as the man bowed again, understanding that it was him who the action was aimed at. Neither of us spoke a moment before Eren pulled back from me and went around me to go closer to the desk separating us from the man. Eren smiled nervously before holding out his hand, and the man's eyes grew wide as he stared at it. "Hey, I'm Eren. You really don have to act so formal around me, er, around either of us actually."

I tried to mentally thank Eren, glad that he understood my feelings on the matter. The man look stunned, finally taking Eren's hand and shaking it lightly. Eren grinned, then asked his question about bowling shoes again. I groaned when Eren presented me with a pair of rental shoes, remembering the last time I had to put my feet into something so filthy and feeling a bit nauseated as I thought if my failed attempt to tell Eren about my heritage.

"Ah, if Your Majesty doesn't want to wear the shoes-"

"Nope! Levi's got to get the full experience, so he's wearing the shoes. Can you believe this guy's never been bowling before?" I glared at Eren but began putting on the shoes, trying to ignore how surprised the man behind the counter looked. I wasn't about to tell Eren, but as most marriages between King and Queen were arranged, it was odd for us to be so familiar with each other. It was more common that a royal family would be more like mine, distant and cold with one another, so for Eren to call me by my name and not hesitate when it came to touching me would be surprising to anyone who didn't know us.

Hm. 'Most royal families'... Were Eren and I family? Or just boyfriends? Didn't you need a child for there to be a family? Or at least marriage? Well, how do you define-

"Le-vi.... You okay? You were doing that wise Greek-statue thing again." I smiled lightly and waved him off, the younger boy shrugging before dragging me down to the lane that the manager had opened for us and approaching the keypad in front of it. After typing in our names and starting the game he dragged me over to one of the various racks presenting gleaming bowling balls, beginning to pick them up and test their weight before gesturing for me to do the same.

"Just whatever feels comfortable? Or is it supposed to be lighter or heavier?" Eren shook his head and told me to just get whatever I was comfortable with as he settled on a ball of his own and went back over to our lane and placing it on the ball return as he waited for me.

When I was ready I placed my ball alongside his, looking at him expectantly as he had put his name in first and it was his turn. Eren nodded before picking his ball up, making sure I knew which fingers went in which holes, and approached the lane before glancing back at me and rolling his ball down to the pins at the end of the lane and knocking over eight of them.

"It's fairly simple, you don't have to use the same positions pros use or whatever. Just knock over as many as you can, and if you knock them all over in one bowl it's called a strike. Knock them all over in two bowls and it's a spare. Ah, you only get two bowls per frame, so try your best to get most of them on your first bowl. If you get a strike it's worth ten PLUS whatever you get on your next two bowls, if you get a spare its worth ten plus whatever you get on your next bowl." I made a face at the amount of things to keep track of, but Eren had already gotten his ball back from the return and was up at the lane aiming for the pins he had missed.

He missed them both completely and ended up with his ball in the gutter, much to my amusement, but Eren simply laughed it off and told me it was my turn. I completely failed on my first try, but once more Eren laughed it off and came over to me to help me. When I got my ball back he came up behind me and put his arm over mine, guiding it as I approached the lane to help me aim. I felt a smile pull at my lips when I was able to knock over most of the pins, and Eren grinned at me.

Eren won the game in the end, though I was pretty proud that it had only been by a few since it was my first game. Eren took one look at my face and grinned, asking if I wanted to play another game. Nodding, I went up to the desk to ask for another game, some of my enjoyment slipping away when the manager was just as stuff and formal towards me when he saw me.

He had an odd look in his eye as he fiddled with something on his computer to get our lane ready to play again, and when I caught him glancing back at Eren I wondered if he had been watching us bowl. I furrowed my brow as I thought about it, wishing it wasn't so odd for King and Queen to be out bowling and having fun together. Throw in the facts that Eren had absolutely no nobility in his blood and that we were gay and it really wasn't surprising we were regarded as outliers, and for once I was glad I was King so that no one had the guts to be nasty to either of us about any of it.

Eren was spinning mindlessly in a chair when I returned, but when he spotted me he jumped up and pressed the start button on our keypad to begin the new game. Halfway through it we were interrupted in our weak battle of insults when the taller boy's stomach rumbled, and he cut off and grinned at me sheepishly. 

"You should've said something if you were hungry. They have food here, right?" Eren nodded and pointed to the food bar in the back I hadn't noticed, and I glanced back at our game before gesturing for Eren to lead the way. We both got some pizza and a root beer float, which was apparently something else I had to try. The pizza was overly greasy but bearable once I had mopped some of the grease up with a napkin, and the root beer float was better than Eren needed to know. 

The people working at the food had given us the same treatment as the manager, but we did our best just to ignore it and go back to our game. There were more people in other lanes now than when we had first got here, and while all of them had froze and bowed when they first saw us we simply ignored them and eventually they would go about their business as we went about ours.

We had gone back to bowling and I had been teasing Eren about the intense look he got on his face whenever it was his turn when a small girl approached me, bowing before frowning and curtsying and then bowing again. Eren came over to stand beside the chair I was sitting in with a grin on his face, and I sent him a glare before I sighed and turned back to the girl.

"You need something?" She stood straight and shrugged, looking at Eren and I with wide eyes.

"Are you the King?" I nodded, and she giggled and clapped her hands. "Is that your wife? I saw him kiss you, but he's not a girl. Mommy says all girls have breasts, and he doesn't."

"What the..." Eren was laughing so hard he had placed a hand in the back of the chair I was in to steady himself, almost falling down because he had forgotten that the chair was on wheels. When he had calmed down he knelt down by the girl, smiling kindly.

"You're right- I'm not a girl. But even though I'm a boy, everyone seems insistent upon calling me 'Queen'. Weird, right?" The girl nodded, attention now completely focused on Eren. "What's your name?"

"My name's Lizzy, how do you do?" Eren giggled and accepted the hand the girl had offered, shaking it as he tried to make his face look more serious.

"I'm doing quite well, I've just met a fantastic young lady who knows all her manners!" Now it was the girl's turn to giggle as they returned their hands to their sides, and Eren stopped trying to look serious in favor of grinning. "I'm Eren. The grumpy guy over there in the crown is Levi, and even though he's glaring at you he's actually quite happy you came up to him to talk to him."

"Then why isn't he smiling?" Lizzy glanced back at me as Eren shrugged and also turned to look at me, and I glared at him.

"He thinks if he smiles everyone will think he's nice." The girl furrowed her brow, looking lost.

"Doesn't he want people to think he's nice?" I sighed but still made no move to end the conversation between the two as the looked back at each other, and Eren shrugged again.

"Depends on the person and circumstance. For the most part he'd prefer people to think he's too tough to be nice." Eren leaned in close and lowered his voice, though I could tell he knew I could hear. "Just between you and me, though, he's one of the nicest people I know."

"Oh! Well then he must be nice, because Eren is nice, and Eren kissed Levi!" I rolled my eyes, and Eren laughed and nodded. Lizzy giggled before something seemed to occur to her, and she looked down at her feet. "Can I ask Levi a big favor? I was thinking that since he's nice he might let me..."

"Well, you should ask Levi that, but I'm sure he'd be glad to help you out." Lizzy nodded and turned back to me, pointing at my crown.

"Could Levi please let me wear that?" Eren's grin could only grow wider as I removed my crown and set it on the small girl's head, watching with mild amusement as she giggled and danced around, yelping when the crown that was much too big for her fell so that it covered her eyes. Just then a woman rushed up with a look of horror on her face, looking between me and Eren and what I presumed to be her daughter before getting on her knees and bowing her head in shame.

"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry for the trouble my daughter has caused you, I had no idea she had come over here... Please forgive her, she had no clue that she was being rude-"

"But mommy, Levi let me wear his crown! See?" The small girl had raised the crown so that it sit a bit better on her head and she could see, doing a twirl to show off the shining symbol of royalty. Her mom's eyes grew even wider in terror when Lizzy called me by my first name, and she wasted no time in snatching the crown from her head and shuffling forward on her knees to present the crown to me. 

I scowled, glancing back at the small girl. She had fallen back and looked close to tears, and Eren rushed over to comfort her. The mom seemed torn between staying out and turning to Eren and apologizing to him as well when she realized he was 'Queen', but in the end didn't move. Neither did I, though, and while I knew that by now we had the entire bowling alley's attention I made no move to acknowledge everyone else.

"Why'd you take it off her?" Eren glanced my way to shoot me a small smile, and I sighed before looking back at the woman. She seemed shocked that I had asked such a question, and kept her eyes cast downwards as she answered.

"Your Majesty, my daughter had no idea what she was doing, she didn't know it was unacceptable-"

"She said I was letting her wear the crown, right?" The woman nodded hesitantly, and finally I leaned forward to take the crown. I sighed again before putting it on, then got out of my chair and went to kneel down next to Eren and Lizzy. "Hey, Lizzy, your mommy's being too polite. Think you could let her know that it's okay?"

"Oh! Mommy, it's fine! Eren said that Levi was nice, so that's why I asked if I could wear his crown! And Levi really is nice, 'cuz he let me!" Eren took my hand and squeezed it, looking at me with adoration and pride. I shot him a small smile before turning back to Lizzy, who looked a bit happier now.

"Okay, Lizzy, I think you should go give your mommy a hug now. She looks a bit dazed." She did so, and the woman stared at me with wide eyes as her daughter looked back at me, waiting for more instructions. "Sorry you couldn't wear the crown very long, but you should go back to your own game now. You don't need a crown to be a princess, right?"

"Right!" Lizzy ran over and hugged me, and after glancing at Eren I returned the hug hesitantly. Lizzy pulled back and looked up at me with a wide grin on her face, and I smiled slightly down at her. "Thank you Levi! And thank you Eren!"

"Of course, sweetie! Now go have some fun, alright? Maybe we can see each other again another day!" I stood back up as Lizzy hugged Eren, glancing at the woman still kneeling by the chair I had been sitting in. Only then did I scan the people watching, some of whom bowed slightly as my gaze passed over them. I scowled when I saw a few phones trained on the scene, but ignored them as best as I could as Lizzy waved to Eren and I one last time before pulling at her mom and dragging her back to their own lane.

It was only once Eren had continued bowling did the rest of the crowd disperse and return to their own lanes and begin bowling as well, and I felt relief flood through me that I wasn't being watched so closely any more. As I got up to get my ball Eren stopped me, hugging me close.

"You're really the best. I thought I'd have to beg you to let Lizzy wear your crown, but you didn't even think about it." He pulled back and kissed me lightly, shaking his head and glancing around when I moved to get another kiss. I hated that he preferred not to do much when there were a lot of people around, but ignored it for now. 

"Well I hadn't rescued any runaway balloons or ice cream comes lately, so..." Eren laughed and pulled away after kissing the tip of my nose, and I smiled at him before we continued our game.

~~~

We were greeted by both Hanji and Erwin when we returned, and I eyed them warily as I got out of the car. Hanji was grinning like a maniac, but Erwin looked more confused. I raised an eyebrow at Shitty Glasses and she pulled out her phone before going into a popular news app, showing me the most popular news article.

It was a brief explanation of what had happened a the bowling alley, complete with a picture of Eren and I kissing and a video that someone had taken of the event with Lizzy. I was surprised at how complete the video was, apparently the people in the next lane over had seen Lizzy approaching and had been able to film from the very beginning. Comments ranged from surprised to thrilled, mostly talking about how great of a King and Queen we had with a few here and there mentioning our relationship. 

"Anything to say for yourself, Levi?" I glared at Hanji, who cackled under my gaze. "I mean, Eren was just being Eren, but you! You! 'You don't need a crown to be a princess, right?' That was priceless!" 

"Shut the fuck up. I'm done with people for the day." Eren pouted and clung to my arm, and I felt some of my annoyance slip away. "You're the exception."

"Yay!" I rolled my eyes as I guided Eren towards our room, mind wandering towards how I could download the video from before. It was kinda nice to be praised like that, and I knew Eren was thrilled I had been kind to the little girl, so it was worth the teasing. And I knew I'd want the video later, so may as well get it now while it was easy to find.


	21. Armin

Eren's POV

I woke up to a large crash coming from outside our room, and as I sat up and rubbed at my eyes I felt Levi groan as he was tossed off of me. I ran a hand through his hair apologetically, and after letting out an exaggerated sigh he sat up beside me. I leaned over and pecked him on his cheek before sliding out of bed, fumbling with clothes before going to the door and stepping outside our room to see what the commotion had been about.

To my surprise I met eyes with Armin, who had been kneeling on the ground trying to clean up a shattered vase he had been carrying for the taller man beside him, who was also carrying one. I couldn't care less that the vase shattered, and I knew Levi probably wouldn't even bother to see what had happened, but the expression on my friend's face shocked me.

He looked terrified and shameful, glancing up at the man towering above him as he made no move to help him. The man looked at me and bowed low, and upon noticing Armin wasn't doing the same grabbed the blond by his hair and slammed his face into the jagged glass shards on the floor. He yelped, and I felt my eyes widen in horror.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty. This newbie's a bit forgetful of his manners..." I ignored the tall man and rushed to Armin's side, swatting at who I guessed to be his boss's hand before lifting his face and scanning it with concern. I frowned and began picking at glass shards stuck in his pale skin, murmuring apologies when he winced.

"Eren? What happened to Arlert?" The taller man seemed stunned that his King new the name of the 'newbie' he had shoved down, bowing to him as I shot him a glare.

"My humblest apologies, Your Majesty. 'Arlert' here had forgotten his manners and did not even bow his head when the Queen approached us, so I had to help him." I heard Levi let out a frustrated breath as I removed the last shard from my friend's face, helping him up and giving him a hug. He looked close to tears from the pain, but he simply bit his lip and stayed silent.

"Eren, you want to deal with this guy? You've got as much power as I do, and I have a feeling you'd prefer that..." I nodded as I pulled away from Armin, turning my gaze on the taller man.

"Your Majesty? Do you know this newbie? Has he troubled you befo-"

"Good going, you just shoved the Queen's best friend's face into a pile of glass." The man's eyes widened in surprise and fear, and he dropped to his knees.

"Forgive me Your Majesty, I had no idea that this boy-"

"What happened, Armin?" Armin wiped at his eyes, and I felt a sudden rush of relief that none of the glass had punctured his eyes.

"Ah, well, we were late so we were rushing a bit and I tripped and the vase broke-"

"Armin, you are a godawful liar. What happened?" Armin looked down in shame, and I clucked my tongue and lifted his chin up again, wiping at a stray tear. "You're fine. What happened?"

"Um... I did trip..." He glanced at the taller man, and I did too, narrowing my eyes when I found him glaring and shaking his head slightly at Armin.

"Did you trip him? Really? How can you sleep at night knowing you're hurting others? Don't you ever regret it?" The man opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off, stepping forward and straightening so that he had to look up more to meet my eyes. "You're a despicable person. You tripped him, you made him clean up what was really your mess, and then you shoved his face into the glass! What if one had gone through his eye and blinded him? Would you have felt even a bit remorseful?"

"Your Majesty, please, I can explain...!" I glared down at him, and he lowered his gaze and stayed quiet.

"What's your job? You appear to feel superior to my friend, are you his boss?" He hesitated before nodding, still looking down. "Well, then, I have the perfect way to forget this. Armin, you want a promotion? You can handle this dickhead's job, right?"

"Oh, Eren, you don't have to-" I crossed my arms and looked at him skeptically, and he shifted as he averted his gaze. I knew no one would bully him if he had a higher rank, though really that was just a bit of extra cushioning seeing as it would probably be made known real quick that he was the Queen's best friend. "Y-yeah, I could, but he's the head boss in charge of all indoor activity of the servants! That wouldn't just be one promotion, that would be, like, five!"

"Then I suppose it's your lucky day. And make sure you come see me once you have these cuts cleaned up, alright? Actually, I'll just come with you. I have no clue if there's a medic here, but probably, right?" Armin nodded and moved to lead me to him, but I paused and looked back at the man still on his knees. "Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, you're fired."

~~~

When I came back to our room an hour later, I collapsed onto the bed face first, groaning when Levi chuckled. This palace was so large, I swear, it was an entire flipping mile to find the nurse's room. Levi sat down on the bed next to me, and I rolled over onto my back so that I could look up at him.

"That was a lot of work." Levi rolled his eyes, and I reached over to take one of his hands, playing with his fingers. "Nurse was nice though. Told me to say hi to you for her. Hi."

"What was her name?" Levi looked confused, so I figured he must not have had any connections to whoever was the main nurse when he was a child.

"Hm. Petra, I think. Short, like you." Levi flicked my nose and I giggled, but when I looked at him he was smiling slightly. "You look happy. Remember her?"

"Yeah. Remember I said 'personal assistant' was the name of a job assigned to somebody for me when I lived with my parents? That had been Petra. I had no idea she was still in the palace." I hummed and tried to get up to get dressed for the day, remembering I had just slipped into whatever was convenient before and knowing Erwin would have a fit if I wanted to go out in what I was wearing. Though he was really the King's advisor, he was more like both of our moms. Before I could get off the bed though, Levi tackled me back down, burying his nose in the crook of my neck.

"Woah! What's gotten into you?" Levi pulled away and pouted slightly, averting his eyes. "Hey, I'm not complaining about the sudden show of affection, just questioning the motives behind it."

"I don't like you hugging other people." I blinked at him before bursting out into laughter, clutching at my side as Levi got off me to pout elsewhere. I grabbed his wrist and yanked him back toward me, clutching him tightly and leaning my head against his.

"Jealous of Armin? Honestly, and you called your sister possessive. I'm allowed friends, thank you very much." Levi refused to meet my eyes, though he still sighed and answered.

"More like... I'm upset that I was dragged from a perfectly wonderful sleep and then I got up and wasn't greeted with a hug but your friend was. I want one too." I rolled my eyes before tightening my hold on him, leaning our foreheads together.

"So you're jealous. It's fine, I'm willing to give you a hug anytime. And trust me, I'm annoyed we were waken up and dragged out of bed too, I just had my attention focused elsewhere." Suddenly Levi's expression shifted to pride, and I raised an eyebrow.

"You sure did tell that guy. Firing him and replacing him with Arlert like it was nothing, but man, the look in your eyes was terrifying." I giggled and cuddled closer to my boyfriend, humming in content as he moved a hand to caress my cheek. "I'm free tomorrow, finally, so is there anything you want to do? It's been a few days since we went bowling, so it feels like we haven't taken the time to go out together in forever."

"Oh, because a few days is forever." Levi scowled and blushed slightly, and I grinned and kissed him lightly. "Nah, I know what you mean. Being King sounds like a ton of work... Part of me wonders if I'm gonna have a shit ton of stuff dumped on me if I'm ever officially crowned."

"One of these days I'll get up the nerve to propose to you, and we'll find out." I felt my face burn, removing my arms from around Levi to cover my face. He chuckled, but when I peeked through my fingers he was blushing more than he usually did.

"You make it sound like there's no way I'd say no." Levi groaned, and I grinned nervously.

"Stop it. I already confessed to you I'm trying to work up the nerve; now you're just being cruel and will only end up making me wrestle with my fears for longer." I giggled quietly, slowly taking my hands away from my face and squeezing the shorter man closer to me again. I shifted so that I could lean down and rest my head on chest, closing my eyes and listening to how his heartbeat was racing ahead with no sign of slowing down.

"So... What'd you have in mind?" Levi nodded and cleared his throat, and I pulled back and followed his lead to sit up .

"Tomorrow's the first day of Shiganshina's Summer Festival. Lasts three days, I think, but I've never gone to it and supposedly it's a fun thing to go to each year." I nodded and grinned, taking Levi's hand and squeezing it before getting up to collect some clothes and head to our bathroom for a shower.

"That sounds perfect. Go be amazing and get breakfast for us, will you?" Levi nodded as I entered our bathroom, thinking that it was about time we asked someone to bring us our meals each morning. Then again, this morning was the perfect example of why I'd rather be the only thing to wake Levi up...


	22. Festival

Eren's POV

Even though it's been a couple days, no one's forgotten the video that was posted from the bowling alley. How could they? As I was finding out via the Internet, no one much liked the idea of Levi becoming King. Most of the kingdom remembered him from his antics as a young teen, which I was highly amused to find had once involved picking the locks to a few snakes' cages at a nearby zoo.

None of the snakes had been poisonous, but Levi being Levi he never told anyone that as they screamed and ran for their lives. One 'brave' reporter caught a photo of him (which was now in my phone as permanent evidence Levi had a rebellious phase too), and in the picture he wore his classic bored expression. However, with one snake wrapped around his neck and another slithering about his feet, he looked slightly demonic.

As I chucked to myself and continued to search for more teen Levi stories I wondered if he had made sure the snakes were prodigiously clean before touching them, though I still hadn't found any good reason for people to not have been sure Levi was fit for the throne. I continued looking though, becoming more dedicated to the task with every moment Levi spent sleeping in. Though he had promised to take me to the festival today, I didn't mind missing a bit, and he needed his sleep.

And then I froze. Oh, the royal family had hid this one good, burying it as deep as they could in the hopes it could be forgotten. But scary as the Internet was, you couldn't ever truly get rid of something there, and I was soon engrossed on an article depicting the real reason the people of Shiganshina had been uneasy when Levi was made King.

From since Levi was twelve he had taken to causing trouble for others, going out of his way to catch their attention by any means necessary. Sure, he was a prince, and the youngest to ever hold the title of fencing champion. But in the end his opinion didn't matter, and while none of this was printed I knew Levi well enough that that fact above all would've gotten to him.

And when Levi was fifteen, someone made an attempt to kidnap him. It had been a live broadcast on an open channel, two masked men standing over a bound and gagged Levi and asking for the King in exchange for his son. Still live, still being watched by most of the kingdom, the King called the number the men had given him and refused.

I felt my heart contract in horror, then sympathy and guilt. I knew what it felt to feel like your father didn't give a shit about you, but to have him publicly announce it was a whole separate level. 

Watching a recording of the video now, I couldn't understand anything, but I saw Levi's eyes to wide after one of the men got of the phone. I saw the betrayal in his eyes before they hardened, and I felt my heart go out to this younger version of my boyfriend as he struggled to his feet, backing against the ragged end of the chair he had been sitting in and sawing at his binds. The men were too busy speaking to the camera to notice, and soon Levi had freed his arms and was pulling the knots apart in the rope around his ankles. The men turned just as Levi straightened, reaching upward to pull down his gag.

Levi snarled at the two men and didn't hesitate before attacking them, showing he could do much, much more than exchanging blows during a fencing tournament. Neither of the men died, and I didn't miss the relief on Levi's face as he checked their pulses before leaving the unconscious men alone in the room to find his way back home, not bothering with the camera.

"Tch. That's a day I won't forget." I spun to find Levi eyeing my laptop sleepily, and I rushed to shut it. I stared at my hands, not daring to move, and Levi sighed before scooting closer. "Relax, you're not comfortable to lay on when you're so tense."

"...Sorry..." Levi shrugged and leaned his head back on my shoulder, closing his eyes. "And all those times I told you to take advantage of the fact that your family loved you..."

"Well, I think you used the words 'want you around', not 'love you', so you weren't wrong. They never really did, it was only for political reasons did they make sure that this was covered up." I frowned, not quite understanding.

"Why, though? You were just protecting yourself..." Levi opened his eyes again, sighing when he realized I wasn't letting this go easily.

"Did you finish reading the article before watching the video?" I nodded, but I didn't want to remember what it had said. "Then it probably said one of a few things: that my parents where at fault for raising their child so that he was so capable of violence, that I couldn't handle the pressures of being royal and was overwhelmed and needed great physiological help, or that I didn't value human life."

"But you checked their pulses! You didn't want to kill them! You were just protecting yourself!" Levi pulled the laptop from my arms and leaned over me to set it on my nightstand, then shifted so that he was sitting half on my lap and he could see me easier.

"Yeah. Yeah, I care about human life. And I didn't need any help. Maybe it was my parents' fault." I frowned, looking at my hands, and Levi sighed again. "I never really cared what people thought of me. I wasn't the heir to the throne, so whatever I did wouldn't really matter in the long run."

"Man did you have that wrong." Levi chuckled, and I felt a bit of the pressure in my chest loosen. Examining Levi's expression I could tell that he wasn't lying, that he hadn't really cared what everyone felt.

"Ack, sure did. If I had known I would've grown up to live with a brat and babysit a shitty kingdom I would've paid more mind to the people. Now I have absolutely no fucking clue what anyone wants." I raised an eyebrow, and Levi huffed an annoyed breath through his nose. "Can't trust that stupid court. And not staying in the people's favor means stepping down from the throne. And no way in hell am I admitting defeat."

"Why don't you just ask them?" Levi blinked at me, looking confused and surprised. "Well, people were unsure they wanted you to be king because of that whole thing, and now they have the thing from the bowling alley and can see that you're actually a great guy. We're going into town today, right? Just don't act like an ass and ask them."

"That's..." Levi trailed off, and then amusement and disbelief replaced the confusion. "This is why you should be the one leading. Honestly, you're so good to everyone. I'll do it, but I want your help. It's hard not to be an asshole when I've spent most of my life perfecting the art of it."

"You're all talk. Well... Mostly. I know two guys who once kidnapped a prince who'd think otherwise. But in my opinion, you're much better at telling little girls that they're princesses than being a dickhead." Levi rolled his eyes, but let me kiss his forehead. "Yeah, I'll help. I'm always here for you, Levi, okay?" 

"Thanks, brat." Levi took my hand and squeezed it before letting go and sliding off me and rolling off the bed, stumbling over to the shower.

Well, now I knew that it was even more important than ever to make sure the world was aware that Levi was a good guy.

~~~

After we had both showered and had breakfast, I somehow managed to convince Levi to just walk to the Summer Festival. Since the town square it would center around was close to the palace we made it there fairly quickly, both of us adhering to a silent agreement and staying quiet until someone noticed us.

We did our best to slip through the crowd without being noticed, seeing as neither of really wanted to deal with all the formalities and just wanted to enjoy ourselves. Unfortunately, when you're dressed considerably nicer than most of the people at the festival and one of you is wearing a crown, it's hard to escape into the crowds and not be noticed. Levi let out a tired sigh as his eyes swept over the courtyard full of people bowing, the Festival suddenly quiet. Levi looked to me pleadingly, and I rolled my eyes before squeezing his hand and smiling at the people gathered.

"Don't you guys mind us, we just came to have a bit of fun like the rest of you." A few people hesitantly stood from their bows, and I gave them thumbs up. They all exchanged looks with another as more people began to stand, slowly resuming their own activities. "How the hell did you deal with people when I wasn't around?"

"I didn't." I laughed at the shorter man's words, but upon drifting my attention from his eyes around the large square I let out a squeal and dragged Levi over to where a bunch of smaller children were blowing bubbles. 

There was a range of different bubble wands to use, large and small, with small tubs of bubble solution for those who chose the larger wand. There were plenty of bubble wands lying unused, so I assumed that this was something some of the parents had set up for all of the children and waved to the kids already playing before picking up a huge bubble wand and dipping it into the bubble solution.

"Oi, aren't you a bit old to be playing with bubbles? Not that I mind, at least you're spreading soap around instead of dirt." I laughed, pretending that the younger children hadn't stopped what they were doing to watch us. No one tried to bow or anything, though, so that was nice.

"Levi, Levi, you're never too old to play with bubbles. Look! That bubble was larger than your head!" I laughed again, dancing around with the large bubble wand and squealing at the huge bubbles left in my wake. Going back to dip the wand in the bubble solution again, I picked up a smaller one and tossed it at Levi. "Here- stop being a boring old man and come play!"

"I hate it when you call me that." I bent down and kissed the crease on Levi's forehead before smiling at him, watching as his sour expression slowly slipped away before he sighed and raised his wand to blow a stream of bubbles in my face. 

I yelped and dropped my wand, rolling around on the ground and clutching my face as if it had been burnt off. I glanced up at Levi to see his face contorted in worry, but I winked at him and he melted into his usual deadpan expression.

"Help! I've been hit, avenge me! Somebody, avenge me!" A few of the kids who had been watching giggled as I continued my dramatics, begging someone to step forward and defeat the wicked King.

"Avenge the Queen!" The cry went through the kids as they rushed towards battle, bubble wands at the ready. 

Levi tensed and glanced back down at me, and I smiled encouragingly. He took a deep breath and released it before edging away from the kids, a step back and then another and another. Finally he turned and ran, leading the giggling children around and around the bubble station. 

I slowly stood up, grinning as I watched Levi's expression shift from 'slightly annoyed' to 'I'm having too much fun to be annoyed but I'm going to pretend I'm annoyed anyway'. A large amount of the adults in the are had paused to watch our impromptu game of bubble tag, some smiling and taking pictures before continuing their own activities and others continuing to openly stare.

I dragged my attention away from the crowd half-watching us and bent down to pick up the small bubble wand Levi had dropped, dipping it into some bubble solution before hiding it behind my back. Just then Levi ran my way, running behind me and trying to use me as a shield. I shifted my hand to in front of me, raising the other to my mouth to signal the children to be quiet.

"Eren help the little shits all have an infinite amount of bubbles and energy!" I laughed and turned towards Levi, grinning wickedly. "Why are you looking at me like that Eren I swear to god whatever you're going to do don't you fucking dare do- Ah! Eren!"

"Oh, but it's soap! You said so yourself!" Levi growled at me as I laughed again, almost dropping the bubble wand that had ended up being Levi's demise. The kids playing with us giggled along with me, blowing their own bubbles in Levi's direction. Levi scowled and flicked at my forehead, which only caused me to laugh harder, and I doubled over clutching at my sides as I gasped for breath.

"Shitty brat." Levi reached out to ruffle my hair before he turned to the other kids, yanking my bubble wand from me and waving it menacingly in their direction. They squealed and giggled and mocked panic as Levi bounded over to dip the wand into the bubble solution, following his lead and running over to replenish their amo.

I was left helpless watching, grinning wider every second Levi played along with the kids and laughing harder every time he swatted at the kids for blowing yet more bubbles in his face. A few of the other kids had dropped out from laughing too hard as well, and by the time Levi had deemed that enough was enough and had scurried back over to me to take refuge most of us were breathless from the game or laughter or both.

"Brats. I'm all bubbled-out now." I grinned as Levi backed against my chest and pulled my arms around to hold onto him, obviously hoping it would do something to stop the kids from continuing the game. I squeezed Levi tight and leaned my head against his, doing my best not to knock down his crown and wondering at how it stayed on during the game, and loosened my grip only when he started to squirm.

"That was fun. What do you wanna do next?" Levi rolled his eyes, muttering about how I had barely run around at all and I could never understand his pain before shrugging. 

The kids we had been playing with had collected themselves into a huddle on the ground by one of the larger tubs of bubble solution, still catching their breath as they either giggled amongst themselves or watched us with grins stretched across their faces.

"Nothing involving actual movement." I laughed before pulling away from Levi and grabbing onto his hand to pull him through the festival, grinning and waving at goodbye to the kids who waved enthusiastically back at us.

I could tell they were disappointed to see us leave, but I made a silent promise to find them again later in the festival and play with them some more. We weaved through the crowd, shaking our heads at anyone who tried to clear the way for us, stopping at each of the vendors set up to examine their activity or product.

It was difficult getting people to be a bit less stiff around us, sometimes giving up and letting them be as formal as they pleased. It was nearing lunchtime as we neared a cart set up with a large selection of greasy carnival food, and Levi chuckled as my stomach grumbled at the smell.

We went a bit into the park near the square to find most others were picnicking there before choosing a shady tree ourselves and eating our lunches under it. When I was finished I tugged Levi over to a large group of people playing ultimate frisbee, asking excitedly of we could join the game. They bowed and said we were welcome to, and after dismissing them from their awkward attempts to be so formal the game began.

I had to explain a few of the rules to Levi, but in the end it was worth it. Levi's team won by a landslide, though neither team seemed to care much about the score. Instead we all just high-fived and laughed before going our separate ways, Levi and I wandering back into the square.

As we walked Levi slipped a hand into mine, and when I glanced at him I was surprised to find that he was being uncharacteristically unguarded with the smile tugging at his lips. I was glad that he was having so much fun, and I wondered absently when the last time I had done something like this myself.

As the afternoon wore into evening and after Levi and I had returned back to the field to eat dinner, a small group of people brought out their instruments and set up in a corner of the square. There had been on-again off-again music throughout the day, but when people began to clear the square I grinned as I realized that they were starting a dance.

I watched carefully as they began the dance, trying to memorize the steps. Levi caught my gaze and sighed, pulling me off to the side. 

"Here- like this." The dance was fast paced, and I tripped over Levi's feet multiple times, but in the end I was pretty okay at it and Levi led me into the square to join in.

"When'd you learn this? Doesn't seem like something that'd be at balls or whatever, and I can't imagine you spending your free time dancing." Levi raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged in defense.

"I'm dancing now, aren't I?" I rolled my eyes, laughing, and Levi yelped when I almost jerked us out of the flow of the square. "Petra taught me."

"Hm. I can't believe you've never gone to this before... It's so much fun, and there's another two days after this!" My words were slightly more than gasps, revealing how I struggled with keeping up with the tempo.

"Calm down, you're going to pass out. You don't have to talk." I nodded appreciatively, and Levi hummed a response. The end of the dance came soon after that, and when the music faded away from the now darkened sky I looked down at Levi with a lopsided grin, remembering the last time we had danced together.

Levi sighed, whether from content or because the song was over I didn't know. He seemed to echo my thoughts, though, and reached up to loop his arms around my neck and pull me down for a kiss. It was warm and soft, shortened when some of the people who had been watching the dance decided to clap and whistle at our display.

Levi grumbled as he pulled away from me, and I flashed him an apologetic smile before taking his hand and guiding him out of the area cleared for the dance. We stopped by a small ice cream shop by the square before starting to head back to the palace, each of us sporting smiles and half-eaten ice cream cones as we watched the indigo sky fade into black.

Levi had said that there would be fireworks on the third day, but for now we were left with the quiet of our hushed conversations and the glittering of the stars. And though I felt completely at peace now, I felt a warning tug in my gut, telling me this was just the calm before the storm.


	23. One Last Battle

Levi's POV

The next couple days followed much as the first one had, and I was grateful that by the last day the townsfolk had gotten comfortable enough with us not to stop whatever they were doing to bow when they saw us. The kids Eren and I met on the first day learned to look for us, and much to my annoyance Eren was more than willing to drag me into a game with them. Shitty Glasses was thrilled, keeping tabs on us online, but Erwin complained that he couldn't find any news for Shiganshina that wasn't about Eren and I.

I had taken Eren's advice and had asked a few people, with quite a bit of help from said brat, what the hell they wanted me to do with the kingdom now that I had it. They had all seemed a bit surprised that I was asking them instead of the court, but most had given answers along the lines of just bringing peace and prosperity etcetera etcetera. I was a bit frustrated with their lack of input, but it was a relief to know that no one had any specific hopes for me to follow through with.

When I woke up this morning, I was annoyed beyond belief to find that Eren wasn't in bed with me. I let out an exaggerated sigh and lifted my head to look around the room for him, scowling when I found him across the room on his laptop. Usually he would just stay in bed to do whatever the fuck he wanted to on it, but now he seemed glued to the wall for its power outlet.

"Oi, get back over here." Eren's gaze shifted up to meet mine before back at the screen, and after letting out a sigh he closed the laptop and set it aside before scampering over to the bed and diving under the covers.

"Never thought I'd ever be so popular." I raised an eyebrow and he wrapped an arm around me before answering, providing me with the perfect opportunity to bury my nose in the crook of his neck. "The news stories Erwin's always complaining about. I wanted to see if he was exaggerating, but he really wasn't. We're everywhere! It's fun reading stories of our adventures, though. And no one's done a story on finding you sucking me off in the woods, so that's good."

I chuckled at the memory and Eren's embarrassment of it, then pulled my head back and covered my mouth as my chuckle quickly turned into a cough. I watched as Eren's expression of amusement and slight embarrassment turned to concern, but I waved him off. Eren furrowed his brow and leaned forward to bump his forehead against mine, jerking back when he made contact.

"Well, that's not good. Stay here, I'll go get dressed and find Petra." I shook my head, clinging onto Eren, but when I shifted to cover my mouth again and cough he broke free and slipped out of bed. "Sorry... This is probably because we fell into the lake yesterday..."

I sighed as he dressed quickly and left to find Petra, burrowing into the blankets to ward off the sudden cold from not cuddling with the burnet. He was right, as much as I hated to admit it, and I did feel miserable. I scowled as I remembered falling into the lake, blaming my sickness on the bunch if brats that had pushed us in.

I knew they hadn't meant to, Eren and I had been sitting on the edge of the dock and watching the fireworks when a few kids came bounding up the dock to their moms, causing the dock to tremble. When they reached the end they couldn't stop themselves in time and one of them ran into us, pushing us both off the edge and into the water. I had come up spitting, but Eren simply tread the water as best he could while laughing.

I glared up at the kids looking down apologetically at us from the dock, ignoring how the adults nearby were stiffening and looking horrified that their children had just pushed the King and Queen into the water. Eren reached over with one hand to fix my crown, which miraculously hasn't fallen off but had come close and was dangerously crooked on one side of my head. 

I frowned as I recalled Eren's playful grin, knowing now that he probably blamed himself for my fever. While I had wanted to go back to the palace immediately to take a shower and get into some dry clothes, Eren had insisted that we stay for the rest of the fireworks. And when Eren came back into our room, Petra right behind him, I didn't miss the look of guilt on his face and beckoned for him to come closer so that I could take his hand and squeeze it.

"Not your fault." Eren opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head. "Don't worry about me. I feel fine, and if I have to miss a day or two of filling out paperwork I think I'll live."

"But tomorrow you have to address the court, right?" I sighed and nodded, but cut him off before he could continue.

"So you'll just have to take extra good care of me today so that I don't feel like shit tomorrow." Eren frowned but sighed and gave in, leaning down to kiss my forehead before backing off to give Petra room to work.

"Wow, in all my time serving your family, Your Majesty, I don't recall you ever getting sick." I rolled my eyes and snatched the thermometer from her hands, preferring to not have other people stick things in my mouth. When it beeped I took it back out and winced as I glanced at the temperature displayed, gingerly handing it back to Petra. "Holy... Well, you definitely can't get out of bed today, probably the next few days. No fucking, either, you just have to keep relaxed and still."

"I object. I think my nighttime activities should remain my own business, thank you very much." Petra rolled her eyes as Eren blushed furiously, burying his face in his hands to his his embarrassment. 

"Levi, listen to Petra." I pouted and he averted his eyes, shaking his head wildly. 

"But I'm going to be so fucking bored..." Eren sighed and looked to Petra, who shrugged.

"The medicine I'll bring you will probably make you feel a bit sleepy-" I snorted and she smiled apologetically, "-but if you really want to watch a movie of play a game you're fine so long as you stay put. Sorry, Your Majesty."

"Oi, brat. I hereby declare you to be my official 'do everything for me' person until further notice." Eren rolled his eyes and grinned, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking my hand.

"You know I would've done that anyway." Petra looked between the two of us before telling us that she would be right back with some medicine and a wet cloth to keep on my forehead, and to my surprise the second she was out the door Eren tackled me. "I'm sorry, really, I should've let you come back to dry off... Are you feeling alright?"

"Tch, I already told you that I'm fine and not to blame yourself." Splitting headache, burning throat, insistent cough, but he didn't need to know. I returned his embrace and sighed, Eren squeezing my tighter before pulling away and going back to sitting on the edge of the bed.

"...Okay..." I sent him a small smile and he returned the action, and it was only when Petra came back and Eren moved off the bed did I notice I had subconsciously grabbed for his hand. 

Eren spent the rest of the day by my side, leaving only to fetch me a few more pills or a glass of water or food. I felt twitchy and cooped up from having to stay in bed, but Eren did his best to keep me entertained. We spent some time re-watching movies together (we didn't have many left we hadn't seen, and Eren wanted to stretch them out) before Eren got into bed next to me with his computer and tried getting me into his favorite shows.

"Why the fucking hell did he- nonononoFUCKno! Who the hell is he to do that to Sherlock? God fucking dammit, really John? Screw you. Or have Sherlock screw you, yeah do that." Eren laughed at my outburst, and I let out an amused huff as he tried to shush me.

"Shut up, or I'm turning it off." I humphed but stayed silent as the show continued, save for the stray fit of coughing or grunt of appreciation at something one of the characters would say. 

As Eren suspected, I found television shows just as amazing as movies, and he got a kick out of teasing me once more about never having lived before I met him. Eventually, though, Eren yawned and paused the episode, claiming sleepiness and that I needed to sleep too so that I could get well soon.

"You do have what you're going to say to the court all planned out, right? Note cards and whatever? I'm not sure what it is you're supposed to be saying, but Erwin made it seem like a big deal." I sighed and nodded, not putting up much of a fight as Eren dragged me down with him as he lay down.

"That fucktard makes everything sound like a big deal." Eren laughed softly, and I fought off a smile as I felt his body spasm slightly. I felt my face grow serious once more, however, as I hesitated before continuing. "My ten days are up. That's what I'm supposed to be talking about. No note cards will be necessary, but could I borrow your laptop?"

"Well sure, but what are yo- oh. Are you talking about... The thing the guy from the court said after the ball?" I nodded and Eren frowned, remembering the experience before he tightened his grip on me. "Do you plan on pulling up the news stories from the festival?"

"Yeah. I only thought of I this morning, but that's more than enough to prove to those shits everyone loves having you as Queen. I love having you as Queen, too, so I'm not losing this one." Eren blushed and buried his face in my hair, and I hummed happily despite my scratchy throat.

"Thanks, Levi... And you're sure this will work? I mean it seemed more like they just hated me in general, not that they were quite worried about what everyone else thought..." I fought back a yawn before answering, feeling my cold and my exhaustion catch up to me.

"It's being broadcasted live. What I say, how the dicks from the court react, what they say in return. Everyone loved you, they won't let the court send you away." Eren nodded, but I knew he was still doubtful. "Would you like to come with me to the address? You may as well."

"Could I? Please?" I nodded, and I felt Eren let out a breath of relief. "Thanks... But first, I was wondering, couldn't you just order them to back off?"

"I wish. I fucking wish. But if the court reached a conclusion together than they have more power than you or I. Has to be unanimous, though." Eren let out a sound of annoyance, which I mentally echoed.

"Hm. That sucks." Eren squeezed me tight before relaxing into the bed, nodding to himself. "Alright, then, sleep. Good night, Levi."

~~~

"I love him. The people love him. Isn't that reason enough?" I broke out into a small fit of coughing, and I felt Eren step a bit closer to me and rest a hand on my back. I shot him a small smile and he grinned nervously back at me before I returned my attention to the court, fifty or so old shits muttering amongst themselves about what I had said. Pixis, the only one standing, frowned and took a step forward.

"It makes no difference if people like the boy. What matters is that he's just a kid, and a rather common one at that. He has no idea how to lead a kingdom, and not one drop of respectable blood in his veins. What we need for a Queen is a respectable princess from a neighboring kingdom, Rose or Maria or even Sina perhaps, someone who knows how to lead." I scowled, doing my best to filter what I said knowing most of the kingdom was watching and that cursing now would be a stupid way to let the court get a point.

"Idiots. All of you. Of course it matters. And I can lead just fine, that much is certain. Leadership and the ability to take charge of a situation are things I'm good at." I paused, coughed. "Kindness, respect, looking past the flaws to see the beauty, I suck at that. Eren doesn't. If we set aside the fact that I'm not letting him go because I care for him, I'm still not letting him go because I need his help more than anyone."

"I fail to see what respect and kindness have to do with being fit to rule a kingdom, Your Majesty." I sighed, looking back at Eren for support.

"I... If I tried to rule this kingdom without Eren, I wouldn't know what to do. I would get caught in the stupid piles of papers I have to do, stalling and hesitating and unsure of doing much of anything because-" I broke off and glanced at the group of reporters, looking away quickly with guilt. "I don't understand. I don't understand how to bring so many people happiness."

"Nonsense. I'm sure we're all aware of the video of you and little 'Lizzy', Your Majesty, and it seemed to me that you were quite capable of making her smile." I shook my head, glancing back at Eren again and glad he couldn't understand what I was about to say.

"I was lucky." Pixis frowned, confused. "I was lucky with getting it right then. I've tried before to bring happiness to others, but most of the time I can't understand the situation enough to do so. Eren, more than anybody, Eren knows how to make others smile. He knows how to strike up a friendship with anyone, he knows what it is others want instinctively."

"So you believe that relying on a boy is going to help you bring this kingdom happiness?" I felt my gaze harden, and I nodded. I turned to Eren and took his laptop from him, setting it up on the small podium I was provided and searching for the news for Shiganshina. Finding it, I pulled it up and turned the screen to Pixis. "The Summer Festival? I was aware Your Majesty made an appearance, but..."

"I was there for Eren. I played with the kids that first day with the bubbles for Eren, I did everything for Eren. And I made people smile. Without Eren by my side, I am clueless how to lead this kingdom to happiness, but when he is by me he guides me. I don't think he's aware of it often, of guiding my actions and steering me towards whatever would bring happiness to others." I paused, coughing once before forcing myself to continue. "Did you hear that I was asking people for help at the Festival?"

"Help? Of Your Majesty needs aid, it is the court's job to-"

"I asked for help in deciding what to do with the kingdom. I couldn't ask you because you aren't the people. While I was in America, I led a very different life than I do today. I may not understand completely, but I understand enough to know that anyone from the court will not hold the same opinion as someone off the streets because you haven't had the same experiences." The court had long since gone silent, and I could see the look in Pixis's eyes telling me he knew he was losing.

"And I suppose Your Majesty is telling me this because the boy gave you the advice to ask the commoners for help?" I nodded, then cut the shitty Pixie Dust off before he could continue.

"And he was the one who brought me as close as I will ever get to being normal. He was the one who taught me all the life lessons I missed from growing up as royalty. I believe I told you before, Pixis, but I will tell you again." I took a deep breath, looking him straight in the eye. "Eren is a million times more fit to rule than I am. If I am unable to keep him as my Queen, I will refuse to rule."

"That is..." I refused to break eye contact, knowing I had won. In my head, in the heads of everyone watching, there hadn't been anything to fight over. 

Eren was Queen, and the only people not to accept that were before me. The people of Shiganshina loved Eren, loved him for his smile and laughter and the way he so easily got me playing a game with their children. No one had the right to take that away from the kingdom, away from me.

"Now, I have done as I was told. I have told you why I believe Eren to be fit to rule and fit to stand by my side, and it is your turn. Are you so stupid that you do not have even two brain cells to rub together or will you let me keep my Queen?" Pixis swallowed, then nodded and slumped forward. He turned slightly to talk with a few council members in hushed voices, then sighed.

"We... We accept Eren Yeager as Queen of Shiganshina. Long live the Queen." I smiled and reached up to poke Eren's nose, the younger boy grinning widely when I told him I had won. 

He kissed the top of my head before waving to the reporters and excusing us, finding a reporter who spoke English and explaining that he was taking me back to bed to recover from a cold. The reporter translated for everyone else, and soon I was tucked back in bed with Eren, feeling thankful once more that Eren hadn't been able to understand me since I knew he wouldn't ever let me live down the embarrassing shit I had been spewing for the rest of my life.


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter folks! Enjoy!

6 Months Later

Eren's POV

"Oi, Eren." I looked over at Levi from the book I had been reading, watching as he fiddled with the pen he had been using to fill out some papers. "...Want to go for a walk? I haven't been in the palace gardens for awhile, and I'd love to leave behind all these shitty jobs for a little bit..."

"Idiot. Do your work." Levi's face fell slightly and I furrowed my brow, watching as he nodded slightly and turned back to what he was doing. He sat perfectly still for the longest time, eyes staring blankly a the page in front of him. 

It was odd for Levi to act like this, and I had been noticing this same behavior for the past few weeks now. I sighed and got off our bed and wandered over to the raven-haired man, eyeing him curiously when he made no move to acknowledge me. I leaned against his desk and tapped his head, watching as he looked up at me briefly before attempting to look away again. I rolled my eyes and stood back up, grabbing one of Levi's hands and giving it a gentle tug.

"Let's go then. It's no fun when you're acting weird, and you're too fidgety to get anything done right now anyway." Levi let out a small sigh of relief before getting up and interlacing our fingers, squeezing my hand tight. I recognized the behavior from the few times the older man had questioned himself, and I wondered what had him feeling so insecure.

The palace gardens truly were beautiful, and this time of year most of the flowers were in bloom. Levi watched as I stopped to lean down slightly and smell my favorite roses, sending me a small smile when I glanced back at him. His smile began to waver, however, the longer I studied him, and I realized that it was more of a nervous smile than anything. I frowned, unsure what was going on, before Levi cleared his throat and began wandering over to a man-made stream that ran through the garden.

He hesitated before sitting down on a nearby bench, looking down at his lap instead at the trickling water. It had gotten late, and while I resented the fact that I was having a hard time reading my boyfriend's expression because of that I pushed the thought aside as I sat next to him. The moon hung low in the sky, large and glowing just as bright as the stars that reflected so perfectly on the water.

"Beautiful..." Levi turned to look at me, but I kept my gaze fixed on the scenery for a bit longer. The night was crisp, and I found myself leaning slightly towards the shorter man for warmth as I scanned the heavens.

"...Yeah. Really beautiful..." I looked at Levi now, sending him and embarrassed smile when I found his gaze locked on me, getting the feeling he wasn't talking about the night. 

I squirmed under his unusually intense watchfulness before turning my head upwards once more. I gasped when a streak of light crossed my path, shutting my eyes tight and clasping my hands in front of me as I made my wish. I wish Levi would grow a pair and ask me to marry him.

It had been my wish for months now, ever since the older man confessed that he did indeed plan on someday marrying me. Like hell I was asking him, so I waited it out. There were times I thought he was close, so fucking close, and then he would wither away into a little ball of insecure Levi-ness and the moment would be gone.

I had almost given up hope that he would ask me, uneasy feelings of doubt boiling in my stomach asking if Levi even wanted to anymore. But we were here now, right? I didn't know much about how a standard relationship went, but didn't walks mean something serious?

I squeezed my eyes tighter, wishing with every fiber of my being that tonight it would finally come true. I pushed every other thought out- the princess from Sina that visited the other week, Levi's obvious uneasiness, the fact that 'something serious' could just as easily be something bad.

I opened my eyes, startled, as a soft touch broke me from my thoughts. Levi had brushed away a stray lock of hair from in front of my eyes, tracing his fingers downwards when he was done to cradle my cheek. I leaned into the touch, closing my eyes again and humming with content. Levi took a breath to say something, but when I opened my eyes to look at him he shut his mouth and looked away.

In the darkness his eyes gleamed pure silver, slits of light in the enveloping quiet of the night. His pale skin seemed to practically glow in the dark, fair skin against dark clothes and dark hair and dark skies. After a moment Levi returned his gaze to me, sending me another nervous smile before trying to remove his hand from where it lay against my cheek.

I caught his wrist and brought his hand up to my face to study it, running feather-light touches over the boney fingers and perfect nails. His skin was so soft, his touch so warm... I clutched his hand with both of mine, leaning my forehead against our fingers as I closed my eyes.

Why was he so fucking perfect? I call foul play. It's not fair to be so amazing in every single way, not fair that my heart was beating so fast with hopes and worries and the closeness of our bodies. Levi took another breath, stopped again. He tugged gently at his hand, and I let my hands fall limply to my sides as he placed his own hand in his lap.

"...Oi, Eren... You know I love you, right?" I smiled softly at him, nodding as he fidgeted uncomfortably. "I do, I really do I swear, but I'm awful at expressing it and I'm sorry for being such a shitty person for that."

"Levi, you don't have to worry about it. I know, I know, and I love you too." Levi nodded, clenching his fists in his lap, then paused before nodding again.

"Yeah... Yeah... So, I mean, I don't even know if it makes a difference anymore, I mean everyone treats you as Queen, so if I waited too long and you don't think it matters anymore I'm so fucking sorry Eren." I felt my breath quicken, trying to fight off the tears of joy threatening to spill over as Levi shifted on the bench, looking everywhere but me before he finally slid off the bench and onto one knee, looking me in the eye as he drew out a small black box from his pocket. "But... It still matters to me, so I beg of you to please accept this, please let me have my way and do this no matter how pointless and stupid it is now, because fuck Eren, I love you so goddamned much-"

He broke off as I flung myself onto him, clutching him as tightly as I could as tears flooded down my face. He shifted under me as he felt my sobs shake me, and when he tried to pull away I felt my heart slip when I caught sight of his expression. Hurt, rejection, I could tell it was so hard for him to get here and instead of answering him I simply burst out crying. 

I took Levi's face in my hands roughly, only waiting for him to look up before I crushed my lips against his. The bruising kiss lasted for only a few seconds, ending when I pulled away to gasp out my answer to the unspoken question, to the opened ring box still clutched tightly in Levi's hand.

"You idiot! Of course it matters!" Levi eyed me, unsure, and I squeezed him tight once more before dropping my volume to a hoarse whisper. "God, Levi, I've waited so long for you to ask me... Yes, yes you idiot old man please let me marry you..."

Now Levi was shaking too, but I couldn't stop the grin stretched across my face. Finally, finally after so long, I was granted my wish. Levi pulled away suddenly, raising my left hand to his lips and kissing it before he slid the simple golden band onto my finger, and I brought my hand up to my face to study the diamond inlaid in the gold by the light of the night sky.

I was hit by the sudden bubbly feeling of holding back a giggle as I realized how cliche my boyfri- fiancé was, how much he seemed to love these overly romantic scenes. I took Levi's hands in my own, pulling him to his feet in front of me as I stood as well, looking him straight in the eye and smiled at him. He smiled back, relieved and happy and embarrassed and suddenly calm.

"Thank you Eren, thank you so fucking much..." I nodded, taking shuddering breaths as I tried to calm myself down. 

It didn't work.

I never once lost the feeling of bliss I gained that night, never once calmed myself down from that point until now. Now I was doing my best not to hyperventilate, avoiding looking in any mirror in case something was wrong and I didn't know how to fix it. I'd end up locking myself in the room until I fixed it, and a that moment all I wanted to do was leave the room and find Levi.

Mikasa entered at that moment, expression neutral. I knew she wasn't as thrilled as I was, but she managed to attempt a smile as she came over to me and opened the box she was holding before pinning the black rose onto my suite, a blaring difference from its sleek white fabric. 

No words were exchanged between us, none were needed. She smiled slightly, I grinned like an idiot, and we walked out of the room. She pushed open the last door in my way for me, and my breath was caught in my throat as I immediately locked eyes with Levi down the isle, shifting his weight and looking nervous but happy beyond belief. 

His suit was black, white rose pinned to his chest, and in my efforts to stay upright and not run to him and instead take measured steps I wondered blankly at the black cravat at his neck. I tried so hard to listen to everything that was being said when I reached Levi, tried so hard to shoot a small smile and wave at Lizzy from where she sat in the front row, waving enthusiastically.

However, when trying to recall the moment later all I could remember was the feeling, the overwhelming sense that even though nothing would change between us everything was different between us. All I could remember were the shorter man's lips pressed against mine, all I could remember was dancing with him afterwards and not being able to wipe my smile off my face.

In fairy tales, the princess marries the prince and they live happily ever after. I've married my prince, my king, and I want my happily ever after. I want to wake up every morning with Levi curled into my side or half on top of me and I want every moment shared between us to be full of love and lust and smiles and laughter and kisses and cuddles.

But I'm not an idiot.

Life doesn't work that way- no one gets a happily ever after for free. What people get are chances, chances to be happy and to fulfill more of your ending. I knew I had to work for my happiness, knew I had to work for Levi's happiness, knew it from the moment the Queen's crown was placed upon my head. My crown, now. 

I knew I'd have to work for our happiness, but I'd do it. I'd work for our happiness and our success and our us, and maybe we'd get our happily ever after. I never thought I'd be playing a part in a story book, I never really expected to find love in the first place. But I'd be damned if I was going to let it to now that I had had a taste, and something told me I wouldn't have to. 

This was our happily ever after, and we would live it for the rest of our lives.

FINIS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the end! There! Anyway, this is probably the last fic I post here. If you enjoy my work, go fun me on Wattpad- same username but a ton more fics (all of then ereri). The one I'm working on now is another fairy tail-ish AU with Beast!Levi, but I have like seven others too. Hope you liked the fic!

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters up every day! Comments and kudos more than welcome, and I accept all constructive criticism with an open mind.


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